|
Perfect
Porter
By
Kathy Ceceri
Anything
Goes!
Music
and Lyrics by Cole Porter, new book by Timothy Crouse and
John Weidman, directed by Tralen Doler
Cohoes
Music Hall, through May 15
Cole Porter, who produced some of the most sophisticated songs
on Broadway, was not striving for depth when he wrote Anything
Goes! He’d already decided that “polished, urbane, and
adult playwriting in the musical field is strictly a creative
luxury” and was aiming for a crowd-pleaser when he came up
with the score for this tale of debutantes, nightclub singers
and gangsters aboard a trans-Atlantic cruise ship.
In a twist on the usual testosterone-driven plotline, two
women, Reno Sweeney, the evangelist turned showgirl, and Hope
Harcourt, the ingénue engaged to a British lord, are both
enamored of a Wall Street broker named Billy Crocker who spends
his time running errands for his wealthy boss. But while the
story may be slight, Porter didn’t skimp on wit or musicality
when penning songs like “I Get a Kick Out of You” and “You’re
the Top,” which still sound great 70 years later. And as Cohoes
Music Hall’s new production shows, the script rewritten for
the 1987 Lincoln Center revival with Patty Lupone matches
Porter’s style zinger for zinger, making for a hilarious,
tuneful evening.
Women shine in this production. As Reno Sweeney, Leslie Ann
Hendricks is terrific, displaying both a knockout voice and
fantastic dancing ability. Backing her up are the sexy “Angels,”
Jessica Costa, Darcy Wright, Nicole Brammer and Heather D’Arcy,
who get some of the best outfits as well. Karla Shook’s gun
moll Erma is a scream, and Alison Mahoney as Reno’s rival
Hope has a voice that’s sweet and strong.
Ken Shepski, who plays Billy Crocker, understudied the role
on Broadway, but despite his wonderful voice and acting he’s
just too long in the tooth to be totally convincing as the
man every woman in New York is after. Happily, that one hitch
doesn’t stop the show from bouncing along. Supporting actors
John Noble as the goofy gangster Moonface Martin, John Baker
as the slang-mangling Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, and Joe Phillips
as Billy’s Yale-besotted boss are all excellent, and director
Tralen Doler gives lots of wonderful bits of business to the
rest of the cast as well, including the gigolo and the bickering
couple.
Every costume in this show is a stunner, from the sleek sequined
gowns to the Mondrian-inspired halter tops. Charles Elliott’s
orchestra does a good job with Porter’s score, besides looking
awful cute in their sailor hats. And the shipboard set by
Scott Aronow, aided by a ramp leading around the orchestra
pit into the audience, creates plenty of space for huge production
numbers, especially the title piece. Altogether this is a
great rendition of Cole Porter classic, and bodes well for
next season’s production of his all-time masterpiece, Kiss
Me Kate.
|
Columns
& Opinions
