Marriott's 'Anything Goes' is ship shape

Posted April 16, 2015 4:45 pm

By Scott C. Morgan

Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney (Stephanie Binetti) leads a jazzy revivalist meeting in the production number “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” in “Anything Goes.” The 1934 Cole Porter musical comedy set aboard a luxury ocean liner runs at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire through Sunday, May 31. Courtesy of Johnny Knight Photography/Marriott Theatre

Screwball musical comedies from the 1930s may seem like lightweight fluff, but there's a tremendous amount of hard work involved to keep everything afloat. So despite some minor quibbles for the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire's revival of "Anything Goes," the overall effect is one of smooth sailing amid a sea of laughter.

"Anything Goes" buoys along thanks to a glorious 1930s Cole Porter score that is wedded to a supremely silly script full of sight gags, witty word play and double-entendres. Marriott deploys playwrights Timothy Crouse and John Weidman's 1987 script, which spruced up the 1934 original, though there has been some early shifting to keep all the action aboard the show's luxury ocean liner setting.

Commanding this sturdy comic ship is director/choreographer Marc Robin, who proudly displays his showbiz sea legs number after number. You want knockout tap and jazz numbers? Robin heartily delivers with the tap-happy title song at the end of Act I and the acrobatic "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" which kicks off Act II.

Prefer romance? Robin provides a lovely danced duet straight out of a classic Hollywood musical in the song "De-lovely" for the leading romantic couple of stowaway stockbroker Billy Crocker (a sturdy-jawed Jameson Cooper) and former debutante Hope Harcourt (a charming Summer Naomi Smart).

Robin also allows plenty of room for his cast to show off their comic skills. Gene Weygandt's vocal tics are priceless as the perpetually tipsy businessman Elisha Whitney, while Patrick Lane is a laugh riot as the malipropism-prone Brit Lord Evelyn Oakleigh.

Also invaluable is Ross Lehman as the bumbling gangster Moonface Martin, whose disguises and awkward situations easily elicit laughs from the audience. Yet there's a certain missing spontaneity to Lehman's performance, which signposts the fact that you're watching a comic pro do his thing.

As the brassy nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, Stephanie Binetti is technically successful. But there's a hesitancy to her performance that keeps her from wearing Reno's trademark overconfidence like a second skin, so she doesn't dominate as much as she should.

Designer Thomas M. Ryan's two-deck art deco set is also potentially problematic, since the views of two wings of the audience are often partially obstructed by a stairwell.

But despite these qualms, Marriott's "Anything Goes" proves to be comically ship shape. As one of the songs goes, it's all very "Easy to Love."

Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney (Stephanie Binetti) teams up with the gangster Moonface Martin (Ross Lehman) for the duet “Friendship” in “Anything Goes.” The 1934 Cole Porter musical comedy set aboard a luxury ocean liner runs at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire through Sunday, May 31. Courtesy of Johnny Knight Photography/Marriott Theatre

Stowaway stock broker Billy Crocker (Jameson Cooper) romances the former society debutante Hope Harcourt (Summer Naomi Smart) in the song “De-lovely” in “Anything Goes.” The 1934 Cole Porter musical comedy set aboard a luxury ocean liner runs at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire through Sunday, May 31. Courtesy of Johnny Knight Photography/Marriott Theatre

Gangster moll Erma (Alexandra E. Palkovic) warns the sailors and staff in her song “Buddy, Beware” in “Anything Goes.” The 1934 Cole Porter musical comedy set aboard a luxury ocean liner runs at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire through Sunday, May 31. Courtesy of Mark Campbell Photography/Marriott Theatre

“Anything Goes”

★ ★ ★

Location: Marriott Theatre, 100 Marriott Drive, (847) 634-0200 or

marriotttheatre.com

Showtimes: 1 and 8 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 4:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 5 Sunday; through May 31

Tickets: $50-$55

Running time:/ About two hours and 30 minutes with 15-minute intermissionParking: Free parking lotRating: For general audiences

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