ANYTHING GOES Reviews — Page 2

Times is a rave with a love letter for Sutton:

"Even tapping frenziedly with a chorus line, she seems to be conducting a happy, quippy dialogue with her fellow dancers, an implicit call-and-response between a perfectly in-sync star and a great ensemble. (“Can you top this?” “Oh, yes I can.”) At such moments Ms. Foster’s Reno becomes an evangelist of musical-comedy joy. When she turns her toothy, triumphant smile on the audience there’s no doubt that she’s made many converts."

http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/theater/reviews/anything-goes-with-sutton-foster-joel-grey-review.html


Edit: Ljay, I am obsessed with our almost simultaneous postings and use of the phrase "love letter to Sutton".

Updated On: 4/7/11 at 10:19 PM

USA Today is mixed to positive and is very on the fence about Sutton:

"Foster sings those tunes efficiently and is, as usual, vivacious and likable. She also dances circles around either of her aforementioned predecessors — an asset that director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall cannily exploits in her exuberant production numbers.

But Foster fails to project something more crucial to Reno: a sense of been there, done that — and underneath it, of frustrated longing. Even in Martin Pakledinaz's spectacularly spangled costumes, which frequently show off her gorgeous gams, the star can seem like an earnest maiden masquerading as a jaded vamp.

...

So despite a leading lady who isn't a natural fit — and to some extent, because of her joyful commitment —Anything Goes offers its share of delightful, de-lovely moments."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2011-04-08-anythinggoes08_ST_N.htm

Hollywood Reporter is a rave:

"At first, Marshall seems to hold back on the choreographic elements, but the steady build just makes the seismic tap-dancing explosion of “Anything Goes” at the close of act one even more exhilarating. While the audience is still recovering after intermission, Marshall wallops them again with the wild evangelical orgy of “Blow, Gabriel, Blow.” Leading that one-two punch must be like running the New York Marathon for Foster, but she makes it look easy.

The girl’s definitely got it and this gorgeously sung, buoyantly staged show is bliss."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/anything-goes-theater-review-176133

Yah, Sutton basically just locked up her second Tony...

Another rave from TheatreMania:

"Marshall deserves high praise here for her staging, notably her inventive choreography and readiness to reference classic Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers numbers if they serve her needs. Furthermore, she takes care that her large cast smartly negotiates the various set-pieces aboard Derek McLane's ocean liner. Kudos as well to Martin Pakledinaz for his glittering costumes, the wittiest of which is the flames-of-hell outfit he lacquers on Foster and her "angels" for "Blow, Gabriel, Blow."

In the end, Anything Goes offers what many theatergoers are looking for today: a lot of bang for the bloated Broadway buck and a chance to see a true star in action."

http://www.theatermania.com/broadway/reviews/04-2011/anything-goes_35763.html

It's no surprise that the Times fag would love Sutton. She is one of his pets along with Kristin. Sutton still has the star power to fill a thimble.

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Ask Tonya Pinkins what happened at the Tonys the year she got a love letter from Brantley.

I had a heck of a good time at Anything Goes, and thought it far superior to How to Succeed so I'm pleased the rave from Brantley should help it win the revival Tony.

I wouldn't quite throw Foster the actual win just yet- but the leading actress category just got a lot more interesting.

I still think the regional Tony voters will likely go for Patina Miller.

Updated On: 4/7/11 at 10:48 PM

True, but Caroline,or Change is not Anything Goes. Two different animals.

I hope they do, Michael Bennett.

Philadelphia Inquirer is mixed (he hated Act 1 but liked the title number and Act 2):

"The show, which opened Thursday night at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, sailed out of port to a rocky start at the preview I saw Wednesday afternoon. Singers were too often off-key, the dancing - particularly a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers wanna-be - was only workable, and the show had a tired feel when it didn't seem simply under-rehearsed.

Then, the ship suddenly changed course. In the eighth and final scene of Act 1, the indefatigable Sutton Foster delivered the first lines of the tile song: "Times have changed, and we've often rewound the clock..." The clock, Foster couldn't rewind. But at Anything Goes, times had changed for sure."

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/howard_shapiro/119409504.html

True, but Caroline,or Change is not Anything Goes. Two different animals.

Right. One's mindless fluff, the other was serious theater. Caroline Thibodeaux was a much better role than Reno Sweeney.

AP is mostly positive, with the tiniest of criticisms regarding the direction:

"Marshall's choreography in the big numbers is exuberant, as it was in "The Pajama Game," the hugely successful 2006 revival, also by the Roundabout, that won her a Tony for best director. Outside the ensemble numbers, though, when her actors are singing alone, one feels they sometimes could be moving in more interesting ways."

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=13324959&page=1

Matthew Murray is mixed to negative:

"On some level it is — this formula always works as long as you don’t ponder it too much. But to fully escape the book’s cobwebs, each individual element must be above reproach, and that’s not quite the case here. Take Foster, for example: The brash and likeable Tony-winning star of Thoroughly Modern Mille and more recently Young Frankenstein and Shrek is keen triple-threat casting, but she doesn’t entirely convince as the hard-as-nails after-hours evangelical, and her voice is more a blazing bugle than the gold-plated foghorns of Merman or Patti LuPone (who recreated Reno in the LCT revival). She excites on a technical level, especially when leading the frenzied, tap-drenched Act I finale or the steamy revival meeting just after intermission, but can’t send the thrills much deeper than that."

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/index.html