'Anything Goes' for spring at Burlington Central

Last year was a rather dark time theater-wise at Central High School in Burlington.

The fall play was about Count Dracula, and the spring musical was the familiar sob-fest "Les Miserables," according to director Jeff Nesseth.

"We jokingly entitled it, 'The Reign of Death,'" Nesseth said.

A little bit of sunshine was needed.

"So we went with something more lighthearted. We went with an oldie: 'Anything Goes,' Cole Porter, all in the 1930s," he said. "Tongue-in-cheek, fun humor."

"It's totally happy and everything ends well," added Julia Smith, who plays Reno Sweeney in the play.

The plot concerns a boy-meets-girl, boy-loses situation, with a reunion on a cruise ship that is heading to Europe from New York City.

"During the passing, all of this mayhem ensues," said Nesseth.

The boy, Billy is a stowaway with myriad disguises -- with which he hopes to keep his presence a secret. The girl, Hope, is traveling with her mother.

Chris Svymbersky of Elgin plays Billy Crocker, an eligible bachelor from New York City who falls in love with Hope, whom he eventually loses and finds again on the ship -- hence the stowaway status.

Many subplots are crossing the ocean as well, including such characters as a gangster and Chinese gamblers, which do double duty as disguises for Billy. Even Hope's mother finds a love interest.

Julia Smith of St. Charles plays Reno Sweeney. the nightclub chanteuse of one subplot. Julia describes her character as a sexy evangelist.

"She's the entertainer on the ship," Julia said.

"She's really over the top and a fun person.

"She used to be a missionary, and now she's become a nightclub singer whose act is kind of a call to the altar."

"It's one of these early musicals where there's not a set story line," Nesseth explained.

"It's just a lot of splinters that come together in a happy ending."

Although the musical is of a bygone era, some of the actors used very modern ways of familiarizing themselves with the play. A couple of the students looked on YouTube to see what the play was like, and to work on their characters.

In the old-fashioned "Anything Goes" the standout is the music, as it always is in early musicals.

"Anything Goes" showcases composer Cole Porter, whose songs are ingrained in America's pop culture.

"The songs are all easily recognizable," Nesseth said. "'It's De-Lovely,' 'Blow, Gabriel, Blow,' 'Anything Goes,' 'You're the Top.'"

The production has faced some challenges due to the harsh winter weather this year.

"We had to give up practice time because they had to cancel all the activities here at school," Nesseth said.

But the young cast didn't let inclement weather stand in the way of the show going on.

"We scheduled extra practices. We've put in Saturday mornings and we're up to speed," Nesseth said

"The kids have out in a lot of hard work," he added.

Chris Svymbersky thinks the hard work will result in a huge payoff for audiences. "It's fun for all ages because of the goofiness. But there are certain jokes where people of an older age would understand it -- so it's definitely fun for all ages."

"Anything Goes"

Central High School: 44W625 Plato Road, Burlington

7 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday

$10; can be bought at the door or in the school's main office during school hours.

The cast

Amanda Blanchard, Amber Blaskoski, Brigid Burke, Kayla Caffero,Amanda Clare, Stephanie Connelley, Vic Cortese, Laura Cox, Brandon Doll, Dan Dorgan, Marquel Dougherty, Jeffrey Ehlers, Kyle Getzelman, Stacey Good, Jill Gough, Brogan Gust, Ayla Halberstadt, Jazz Halberstadt, Danielle Heichel, Amy Howanietz, Sean Howell, Kim Ingraham, Cara Jones, Kevin Kellish, Rob Kelsey, Max Kling, Heli Korkala, Vivien Lasken, Nettie Leach, Kim Mangano, Joe Manze, Tim Maroder, Jenneke Matus, Blythe Meyer,Ian Nodurft, TJ Pasia,Demetrius Phillips, Andy Plecki, Andrew Pollastrini, Lindsey Quaiver, Allysa Rauscher, Erika Rauscher, Josh Rodewald, Chet Roush, Jake Roush, Courtney Schejbal, Jessica Schmidt, Jennifer Schmidt, Catie Schwan, Becky Smith, Julia Smith, Kate Spencer, Julie Steichen, Scott Stover, Chris Svymbersky, Monica Taylor, Megan Toth, Kelsey Tonne, Casey Vinyard, Marissa Volkening, Jenny Weatherhead, Anna Zarski, Francesca Zomkowski and Nicole Zumer