Anything Goes

Magnet #1292 - Anything Goes

I love musicals. That's right. I said it. The classic ones. The revivals. The ones where I know the songbook. Something like Anything Goes.

In a word? Amazing.

Seriously. I loved it so very, very much. I can't say it enough.

Sutton Foster was amazing, Joel Grey was terrific, and OMG, Kelly Bishop (aka Emily Gilmore) was awesome. And the rest of the cast? Fanfreakin'tastic.

Cole Porter music and lyrics meant I knew half the words to all the songs because they're standards we've all grown up with.

The story went fast and the jokes were classically timed, even the deadpan ba-dum-bump moments were funny.

The set design was incredible, only to be outdone by the wonderful costumes.

But my goodness, the big Anything Goes tap number before the intermission? Astounding. I totally wanted to jump to my feet and tap my way down the aisles, says the girl who used to wear her church shoes for the tap numbers during Lawrence Welk.

For a few hours while the lights were down, I was reminded yet again, that it's entirely possible that I was born in the wrong decade. On top of that, everything - from the costumes, life on a transatlantic ship, references to Cunards, to celebrities aboard ship - about the show could have come straight out of the Seaport Museum's DECOdence S.S. Normandie exhibit.

Folks, I cannot stress this enough - if you come to NY or if you see any Broadway show this year, Anything Goes should be that show. It truly is Broadway at its best.