Anything Goes or How to Succeed... ?- Page 2

[misto625]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 1:00am

I've seen both shows and I pick How to Succeed. The musical numbers are a lot better overall than in Anything Goes.

[adamschwartz]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:28am

oh come on Radcliffe may be cute but sing. not really. anything goes is by far the better show. Sutton Foster is a true triple threat. Joel Grey is Joel Grey. And Laura goes without saying.


ignore the fool who complains about them not rewriting the book to delete "racism". he probably wants them to rewrite Huck Finn.

[BwayGeek2]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 1:06pm

"Anything Goes" is a classic American musical and I thoroughly enjoyed myself when I saw the show. It was refreshing to see big production numbers and the show featured all of the classic and catchy Cole Porter tunes that we know and love. With that being said, I felt that Sutton Foster completely carried the show with her powerhouse voice and amazing tapping - without her, the show wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable. The rest of the cast, however, was kind of a disappointment. Laura Osnes possesses a beautiful voice that is a throwback to the classic musical theatre ingenue, but her character is so flat and she comes across as boring. As for Joel Grey, he is hilarious and has such a presence - it is visible why he was such a big star when he was in his prime, but I think he is too old for this role. Colin Donnell was fine as Billy but he lacked chemistry with both Reno and Hope and Adam Godley, although hilarious, does not have much of a singing voice. All in all, the show was enjoyable, but the choreography was not what I expected and the cast didn't standout, with the exception of Sutton Foster.

I haven't seen "How to Succeed..." yet, but I am so excited. I have heard great things about the whole cast and hear that the choreography is incredible! The show is another classic American musical and with a cast starring Daniel Radcliffe, who is apparently an amazing dancer and an impressive singer/actor in this role, I think that it should be a great production.

[NYTheatre01]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 1:18pm

I would recommend "How to Succeed" over "Anything Goes."

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 6:39pm

If anyone's curious, I snagged a GREAT seat for Anything Goes tonight. Racist book or not, I'm very excited to see it! And if I don't care for it, I have Catch Me and Priscilla to also look forward to this week!

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 6:53pm

ignore the fool who complains about them not rewriting the book to delete "racism". he probably wants them to rewrite Huck Finn.

This ranks among the dumbest things I have ever seen written on this board. 1) I am not complaining that they DIDN'T rewrite the book to fix the racism. I am complaining that they DID rewrite the book, and yet they didn't even touch the racist aspects which are 100% not necessary to the plot. 2) If you think your Huck Finn joke/example (whatever you want to call it) is apt, you are highly mistaken. In Anything Goes, the racism is peripheral. It has no impact on the plot. In Huck Finn, racism is not tangential, but rather it is a central theme. And 3) that you called me a fool is laughable. Just because you don't agree with me doesn't make me foolish. It makes me opinionated. Welcome to a message board.

In any case bwayfan7000, I hope you enjoy the show more than I did. My intention was not to make people dislike the production of Anything Goes. I was merely stating my opinion, which is what was originally requested. Let me know what you think when you get back!

[misto625]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 12:10am

I agree with BwayGeek2 that Sutton Foster carries Anything Goes much more than Daniel Radcliffe is carrying How to Succeed. Joel Grey may be a little too old for the role but he was quite lively and adorable, so it's hard not to love him. I don't see what is so special about Laura Osnes as Hope. She's playing a standard ingénue role and I am sure there are hundreds of actresses who can give a performance of equal caliber to hers. I also thought Colin Donnell tended to fade into the background and not stand out. I definitely enjoyed How to Succeed more than Anything Goes.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 2:03pm

I really enjoyed it! I found the show itself to be a bit creaky (plus, not much really happened), but it was fun and I loved Sutton. The title number made it worth seeing for me, plus I also really enjoyed Colin, Laura and Jessica, who made a huge impression with a rather small role. I'd recommend it but not rave about it. I'm glad I saw it, though.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 4/1/11 at 2:18am

I thought Anything Goes was great. I'm surprised that someone said it had little energy. I mean, I thought the exact opposite. All of the ensemble was amazing and so were the principles. I haven't really been exposed to the show other then a few songs, and the fact that people didn't like the book. The score was, as expected, wonderful. The book, I thought was very funny. I agree that not much is really happening, but I didn't mind because the scenes were all fast-paced, entertaining, and funny to me. I didn't even find it that dated. The characters could have been flat, but all the actors did the best with them. This story didn't need complex deep characters. I had a huge smile the majority of the time and laughed a great number of times. I thought it was a perfect musical comedy.

Sutton is absolutely fantastic. Sings, acts, and dances like a dream. Worked it. Laura did great with a perhaps under-written role. Joel was adorable and had great presence and chemistry with Sutton. Colin was quite charming. All of the supporting players that I can't name right now were fabulous and funny.