Anything Goes

I am a fan of Cole Porter, if not everything he does. In fact, I am a fan of SOME of Anything Goes, though definitely not of all of it.

It always says something to me if a show's book changes with each revival. From this, characters are added or subtracted, songs can be reassigned, order of events can change, even songs from other shows have been added. It just doesn't seem strong. And it's not. It wasn't a book-style show. But, if that's the case, don't pretend it is.

I am always shocked that this is done so often in schools and regional theaters. Why? It's hard: how do you find that many GOOD tappers? Are you using it as an example of why people need SOME tapping skills? The plot is confusing, and although I felt the jazz music at the beginning, it quickly wore out its welcome and became tedious towards the end.

There are obviously hundreds of musicals out there, many of which are awesome. I wish whenever someone wanted to add this show to their theater's season, they reconsidered and went with something with more to it. Just because this has been historically popular doesn't make it GREAT.

That being said, I LOVE the song Anything Goes.

Anything Goes
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
(origina) Book by PG Wodehouse and Guy Bolton