April 16--Anything, ideally, does not go when reviving "Anything Goes," the justly beloved Cole Porter musical from 1934 featuring assorted comedic shenanigans aboard an ocean liner. The SS American is now boarding at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire but offers a voyage that -- despite the abiding quality of the material and the seaworthy crew of Chicago talent on deck --feels too much like a routine crossing.
To some extent, it's tough to hit an iceberg with "Anything Goes," given the quality of the score, which features "I Get a Kick Out of You," "All Through the Night," "You're the Top" and a plethora of other easily exportable Porter pleasures. All are warbled quite pleasingly by the likes of the solid Stephanie Binetti (who plays the siren Reno Sweeney), Jameson Cooper (as Billy Crocker) and the ever-honest Summer Naomi Smart, who essays the ingenue, Hope Harcourt.
But whereas many other musicals of this era make you suffer through a dated book to enjoy the musical riches, "Anything Goes" has a still-hilarious series of comic scenes and shenanigans, initially penned by no less than P.G. Wodehouse (and others) and shrewdly refreshed for the 1987 Lincoln Center revival, which is, I believe, the version used here (there were further libretto changes for the superb 2011 Broadway revival, but I did not recognize them in this production).
The triangular romantic plot involves the young debutant's tricky choice between an English demi-aristocrat and a young American, but most of the fun involves a variety of juicy criminal types hiding on a ship that values nothing so much as celebrity passengers. In nailing that obsession, "Anything Goes" most surely was prescient. And for the record, there was no racier musical of the era. Those clever lyrics masquerade all kinds of naughtiness, and are all the better for the period's obfuscation.
The comic scenes, which rely on the considerable talents of Ross Lehman, Gene Weygandt, Alexandra Palkovic, Mary Ernster and Patrick Sarb, need lightness of touch and, frankly, more verisimilitude than is on offer here. All of these actors have their funny moments, but they go too far in some instances, removing the requisite lightness of the Wodehouse humor in favor of mugging and the overplayed. All would do to take a cue from the ramrod-straight John Reeger, who captains the ship and just delivers the zingers and then walks away. That's a better choice than cracking up every five minutes and other such fakery, which abounds here, to a far greater extent than is typical at this theater.
Director Marc Robin and his medium-sized ensemble of capable hoofers offers up a stellar "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" (the big Sweeney set-piece) but his staging otherwise struggles to define the signature ship, designed by Thomas M. Ryan. One can hardly expect the Marriott to build the Titanic on its in-the-round stage, but it could have done a better job creating the confined spaces on the ship, or the sense of multiple decks or of streamlined ambience. Much of the comedy in "Anything Goes" takes place in confined cabins, which each tend to occupy a good chunk of the stage here, making the funny business far more difficult to play.
In fairness, I should note that the opening crowd lapped up a lot of what mostly left me with a straight face and even the odd cringe. "Anything Goes" is a truly great musical comedy, and it surely is a pleasure to hear Cooper and Binetti nail its signature numbers. Porter-philes will be fine. But this is a show without enough of a reason for being. It lacks a nautical point of view and it felt to be like pre-voyage preparations had been rushed.
cjones5@tribpub.com
REVIEW: "Anything Goes" at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire
2 STARS
When: Through May 31
Where: Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire
Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Tickets: $50-55 at 847-634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com
