Review: Anything Goes, The Montgomery, Sheffield

This story of love and mistaken identity aboard a cruise ship has been around since the 1930s, and revived many times. The plot is convoluted, but the show is really all about Cole Porter‘s classic music and Woodseats Musical Theatre Company fully exploits that in this amateur production. The ten piece orchestra under the baton of Dominic Ridler sets the scene perfectly and sounds wonderful throughout, especially the rich brass tones.

Leading lady Annie Chadwick is hugely impressive as Reno Sweeney. She has amazing stage presence and poise and her singing, acting and dancing are all first class. There is an assured self-awareness about her performance; it’s as though Reno herself knows she is playing a part in a show and relishes it. She excels when leading large production numbers such as ‘AnythingGoes’and the sparkling ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’.

Joe Pickin gives a likeable performance as Billy Crocker while Evie Tooley convinces as love interest Hope Harcourt, struggling to decide between what she wants and what is expected of her. Their love duet ‘It’s De-Lovely’is delightful and their voices blend perfectly. Pickin’s duet of ‘You’re The Top’with Chadwick is also very entertaining, with some witty choreography.

Much of the show’s comedy is provided by gangster Moonface Martin and his moll, Erma. Both are played exceptionally well by Peter Krakewski and Jessica Brandão. They maintain strong New York accents and both have great stage presence. Krakewski’s second act song ‘Be Like the Bluebird’is very amusing and has the audience chuckling.

More comedy comes from Drew Emerson as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, playing a very stereotypical PG Wodehouse character with eccentric panache. Woodseats’ chair, Mary Newey celebrates the company’s 80th anniversary with a strong performance as harridan Evangeline Harcourt. Her comic timing is superb and her withering looks are wonderful. I also enjoyed the sailors’ quintet ‘There Will Always Be a Lady Fair’ sung with perfectly blended harmonies.

There were a few technical issues in tonight’s performance with principal microphones not being switched on early enough in some scenes, which is such a shame when the cast is working so hard. Hopefully this will be rectified for the remaining performances.

There is a huge amount of dance in this production, so credit to choreographers Alice Carr and Megan Leybourne. Their choreography is perfectly suited to both the period and the music, and performed well by the principal cast. Reno’s seven Angels are all talented dancers, well synchronised in several numbers.

The colourful period costumes are perfect for this show. The female cast members in particular all look very elegant with some beautiful gowns.

Sheffield audiences are very fortunate to have such a wealth of talent in local amateur companies like Woodseats. Anything Goes is not an easy show to stage and this production ticks lots of boxes.

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Original Book by PG Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse
New Book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman
Directed by Elissa Smith
Musical Direction by Dominic Ridler
Choreographed by Alice Carr & Megan Leybourne
Vocal Coaching by Nick Davies

Anything Goes plays at Sheffield’s The Montgomery until Saturday 12 July.