Anything Goes was revived on Broadway last year to great acclaim, but the musical has never really been in eclipse. Since it debuted in 1934, the show has endured as a vehicle for some of Cole Porter’s greatest songs. The story around them is rather flimsy (as was standard for musicals in the 1930s). It has been rewritten several times, and the lineup of songs has broadened, but Porter’s debonair wit has always remained.
The show is set on an ocean liner sailing from New York to London, where a young Wall Street broker stows away to chase after a beautiful socialite, even though she’s engaged to another man. “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” and the title song are all familiar examples of Porter’s insouciant good humor. So is “It’s De-Lovely,” which was added to the score decades later. As a change of pace, the pseudo-revival song “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” is a roof-raiser, while “Easy to Love” is one of Porter’s more charming straightforward love songs. (It was cut out of the 1934 original and restored in later versions of the show, but it was unveiled in a 1936 movie called Born to Dance, where it was sung by Jimmy Stewart, of all people.) Penned by one of the giants from a golden age of American songwriting, this show is opening at Artisan Center Theater this weekend.
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Anything Goes runs Jul 20-Aug 18 at Belaire Theater, 420 E Pipeline Rd, Hurst. Tickets are $15-25. Call 817-923-3012.
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