Anything Goes Review - 7/5/12

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 7/6/12 at 2:17pm

So I finally got a chance to see the revival of Anything Goes yesterday, 7/5/12. I had actually never seen any production of the show before, and never seen Stephanie J. Block on stage before, so I was particularly excited. Here are my thoughts:

THE GOOD:
-Stephanie J. Block can SING. I realize we all knew that, but WOW- she was truly born to do this. I was also impressed by her acting and dancing, especially considering she is not known as a dancer. She more than held her own with the rest of the cast in the big dance numbers. I also found her to have a very warm stage presence, one that I don't feel Sutton Foster has (I've seen her in a few other shows)

-Joel Grey truly proved why he's a legend. Great presence, great comedic timing, and still in quite good voice. He was truly charming.

-I love John McMartin in anything, I must confess.

-Bill English had a fantastic voice, he fit the role perfectly.

-I thought the music was overall great (you can't go too far wrong with Cole Porter). The sight gags were especially funny (gun in a violin case, etc), and I was pleased with all design aspects of the show.

THE NOT SO GOOD

-Erin Mackey (Hope) I found her to have close to zero stage presence. She blended into the scenery for me. I realize the role is very under-written but I've seen actors do more with less.

-"Be Like The Blue Bird" I really didn't like this song. It was really corny (even in the context of a corny show) and I found myself wishing Joel Grey had something better to sing. I felt it slowed down the second act quite a bit.

-In fact, my biggest complaint about the show was that the second act just didn't have the zany, almost farce-like energy of the 1st act. Also, all of the big songs were in the 1st act (other than Blow, Gabriel, Blow). Part of my problem with reviving these classic shows, is that for the most part, directors are afraid (or can not) change songs/scenes/dialogue. In a new show, if a song or scene doesn't work, you cut it and replace it, but with a classic show like this, it seems everything is very set-in-stone.

All in all, a fun night out and I'm really glad I saw the show. I walked away wishing they could have tweaked the show a little bit more, but that's just my opinion.





Updated On: 7/6/12 at 02:17 PM