ANYTHING GOES Reviews — Page 4

I thought this was a great production. I don't focus like many people here do if they like someone or not.
All I know is that Sutton nailed the sucker.
With my second/third row Roundabout seats that I have had for years sometimes I can see the people think in their eyes.

You could see in the whole company's eyes that they nailed it and they were having a great time doing so.

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Of course Tony voters often go to previews- discreetly and on their own dime.

And I think most marketing gurus would argue that most audiences don't give more than cursory observation to what Tony a show wins- being able to say any show is a "Tony Award Winner" is far and away the most important thing regardless of category.

And it matters in a year when most of the awards are likely going to be dominated by one or two shows.

I'd love for that to be the case, it'd be good for everyone, but it's just not true. Time and again I've heard the same thing from people who have worked in marketing on Broadway for decades: best musical is the only one that matters.

Did Seff do ANY homework before writing that piece? It's an insult to real journalists who actually do research before they start writing.

He gives credit to Marshall for all of the changes. Um, what? I saw the show when I was in middle school and it was the same production that I saw at the Sondheim on Saturday.

I think the creative staff agreed it had a gen-u-ine star in Ms. Sutton Foster, who was brought aboard to play Reno Sweeney, the role that shot Ethel Merman into the big time first time out. So they wisely upped Reno from a supporting role to a starring role, and Sutton Foster will never be below the title again.

THIS creative staff had nothing to do with that. Reno was considered "lead" long before Marshall and crew got their hands on it.

Colin Donnell and Laura Ostes are the romantic leads that could hop from this one to Show Boat to Rio Rita to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers etc, etc

Who the crap is Laura Ostes?

There are novelty numbers which get lots of laughs; a ridiculous show stopper for Adam Godley as the silly Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, a song called “The Gypsy In Me”, which he shares with Ms. Sutton, a change from the original production’s pairing of Lord Evelyn with the so-called leading lady “Hope Harcourt”. Very clever of Ms. Marshall, for it offers us yet another color to this Reno Sweeney

This was not Kathleen Marshall's change

One choice I will question: I can’t figure out why it was decided to give the “eleven o’clock number” to a character who’d been way down on the support list until her big moment with “Buddie, Beware” Perhaps Ms. Marshall felt that with Reno inhabiting the “Gypsy” song, balance required someone else to do the final song. Jessica Stone, who got the big break, certainly held the stage with it. But for me, the more Reno the better.

Buddie Beware came at that point in the show when I saw it in 1990-something. So, I don't see how it was Kathleen Marshall's idea to just drop it there.

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Updated On: 4/8/11 at 12:52 PM

And, of course, Merman was already a sensation from "Girl Crazy" three years earlier.

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Here's Robert Feldberg's review (Bergen Record)-- He loved it!

http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/theater/119458339_As_much_fun_as__Anything__gets.html

Easily the biggest audience response at today's matinee was the "Anthing Goes" production number that ended the first act.

And deservedly. Sutton Foster, initially at the third, top level of the three level set representing the ship, sings the verse and the chorus, while working herself down to the lower level. Then the entire ensemble of thirty, led by Foster, launches into a six minute plus tap extravaganza at the end of which Sutton, without seeming in the least winded, closes out the "Anything Goes" vocal and the first act to a very enthusiastic response by the audience.

I had never seen Sutton live on stage. She doesn't have the vocal chops of a Kristin Chenoweth or Kelli O'Hara, but she doesn't really need them here. What she does have is great stage presence and likeability. I can't even comprehend the pressure on a single 36 year old young woman to anchor a show on which so many will be affected by its success or failure. And she comes through.

I also admired the beauty and charm of Laura Osnes. I did not see her in South Pacific, as I saw the show the first week that Kelli O'Hara returned from maternity leave, but the two times that she successfully replaced Kelli must have done wonders for her self-confidence. In the dance segment to "It's De-Lovely," in which they look like they are attempting to copy Astaire/Rogers, with a little more practice with her partner she may move on the Ginger scale from good to special. She has the grace.

The book was weak as expected, but I was pleased to see that about 50% of the gags were actually funny and well received by the audience.

At the end of the curtain call, after Sutton had come out, the entire ensemble broke into about a minute of song and dance, which was well received by the audience. Is this a trend in Broadway musicals?

Despite the extra entertainment by the cast, I belive that they got only about half a standing ovation. Broadway is a tough business. New York is a tough town.

If I have mis-stated anything about the events of the production, it is only because my short-term memory grows only worse with age.

OlBlueEyes, I did have the pleasure of seeing Ms. Osnes in South Pacific and she really blew me away. She was glorious. But more recently I saw her (in Sarasota) as Bonnie in Bonnie and Clyde. If that show does indeed come to Broadway this next season, she will really have come into her own. And I'm delighted she has gotten such great comments as Hope in Anything Goes, a role that often goes almost unnoticed.

Thank you so much for the info Blockhead!! I'm really hoping to catch this show ASAP!

I have seen Laura in Grease, South Pacific, & Anything Goes. It has been such a pleasure to see her go from experience to experience and grow as a performer each time. Getting in on the "ground floor" so to speak as been such a blessing and I look forward to the day when she accepts her first Tony (for B&C maybe )

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At the end of the curtain call, after Sutton had come out, the entire ensemble broke into about a minute of song and dance, which was well received by the audience. Is this a trend in Broadway musicals?

I keep hearing "fall" for Bonnie & Clyde. Anything Goes is slated to close in July unless it extends (which it probably will with these reviews). Unless it extends beyond Bonnie & Clyde opening (whenever that may be) I would think Laura would stay.

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"She doesn't have the vocal chops of a Kristin Chenoweth or Kelli O'Hara, but she doesn't really need them here."

I feel like that is kind of comparing apples to oranges. Sutton Foster is a belter. For the most part, Kristin Chenoweth and Kelli O'Hara are sopranos. Kristin does belt sometimes (in Promises, Promises) but Sutton's belt is far better then hers. Kelli's mix and head voice is absolutely glorious but a totally different style from Sutton. So they aren't really that comparable in my eyes.

I agree that Sutton just has a different kind of voice than Kelli or Kristin...but I'd see Sutton as Nellie Forbush any day.

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