Anything Goes brought laughter and joy as a throwback to 1930s entertainment and style during Monday night performance in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium
It was a de-lovely Monday evening in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium as the room filled with the classic, toe-tapping music of the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes.
Set on the cruise liner S.S. American, Anything Goes follows Billy Crocker’s pursuit for the hand of debutante Hope Harcourt. His friend and nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and Public Enemy No. 13 Moonface Martin help Billy in his quest for love.
The conductor, sporting his captain’s hat, kicked off the evening with an upbeat overture that set the smile-filled, high-spirited mood of the entire evening.
“We knew our subscribers would respond well to it because it’s such a classic,” said Andrew Holzaepfel, senior associate director of the Campus Involvement Center. “We were very excited to have it be part of the (Performing Arts and Concert Series).”
Holzaepfel said the show sold approximately 1,000 tickets.
Jack and Marcia Cornell, Athens residents for about 50 years, are going to Florida for the winter and said Anything Goes was the only show they were able to see before their trip.
“It feels like New York,” Marcia said of the performance. “It’s comparable. Here in little Athens.”
The national tour follows the same direction and choreography as the 2011 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival starring Sutton Foster, Joel Grey, Laura Osnes and Jessica Walter.
Marcia said she particularly enjoyed the first act’s closing title number “Anything Goes,” which includes a highly energetic and complex tap routine.
“Tap is a lost art,” she said. “You don’t see that too much anymore.”
The throwback to early 20th century entertainment was something Teresa Dearth, a retired principal who lives in Athens County, said she enjoyed the most.
“It really reminds me of the ‘30s: the tap, the style of singing,” she said. “I was sitting on the edge of my seat during the ‘Anything Goes’ number.”
After the show, several of the cast members stuck around stage door for a mini meet and greet with a few groups of students.
Brian Krinsky, who plays Billy Crocker, said he thought the campus was “gorgeous” and he was happy to stay near the town, rather than on a highway.
Krinsky said the Athens crowd was amazing.
“By the end of the first act, people were cheering and singing along,” he said. “For me, (performing the show) is like a two and a half hour marathon, so that little extra enthusiasm from the audience is such a gift.”
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