‘Anything’ still goes
By John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinARMY Community Theatre's production of "Anything Goes" resurrects a show that dates from the mid-'30s, but the laughter that greeted the big bungled blackmail scene on opening night last Thursday left no doubt that American tastes haven't changed all that much when it comes to love, sex and cynicism. The sentiments expressed in Cole Porter's title song are as topical now as they were then.
Anything Goes: At 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, through May 23, Richardson Theatre. Tickets, $6-$15, call 438-4480 or 438-5230
David Starr and Mike Humerickhouse do great work in the two major comic roles. Starr is malapropism spouting gangster-on-the-lam Moonface Martin. Humerickhouse is Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, an indefatigably cheerful Englishman who collects American slang and discovers that he has "hot pants" for Reno Sweeny (Rose Marie Barbee!), a born-again evangelist of questionable virtue.
Sir Evelyn is aboard a luxury liner with a fiancee he doesn't love but feels honor bound to marry anyway. Little does he suspect that Hope Harcourt (Stephanie Curtis Conching) doesn't want to marry him either.
Acidic observations on American social values nestle neatly amid the clever musical numbers and light comic action. What do Americans claim to value above all? God and the church! What do Americans really value above all? Money and celebrities! Stowaway Billy Crocker (Ben Perry) becomes the toast of the ship when he's mistaken for Public Enemy No. 1 but is sent straight to the brig once he confesses that he isn't really a dangerous gangster!
Perry and Conching make a fine pair of star-crossed lovers. So do Barbee! and Humerickhouse. Terry Lynn Pershing adds much life to several of the big dance numbers. Starr distinguishes himself singing "Be Like the Blue Bird" to good comic effect.
Barbee! is stellar on two big numbers, "I Get A Kick out of You" and "Let's Misbehave." Perry and Conching make "It's Delovely" a third special moment. However, another number "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" lacks the soul and emotional impact it should have.
Stereotyped Chinese characters reflect pop culture in the '30s. Director Glenn Cannon and ACT Director Vanita Rae Smith are to be commended for not sanitizing things in the interests of contemporary political correctness.
John Berger has covered the local
entertainment scene since 1972.
