|
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, revised by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowaway in love with heiress Hope Harcourt, who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and Public Enemy #13 Moonface Martin aid Billy in his quest to win Hope. The musical introduced such songs as "Anything Goes," "You're the Top," and "I Get a Kick Out of You." Since its 1934 debut at the Neil Simon Theatre (at the time known as the Alvin) on Broadway, the musical has been revived several times in the United States and Britain and has been filmed twice. Anything Goes and Porgy and Bess are the only 1930s musicals that are still regularly revived. The musical has long been a popular choice for school and community productions.
Act One
Billy Crocker, a young love-sick Wall Street broker, has fallen in love with a beautiful girl he met at a party. His boss, Yale graduate Elisha J. Whitney, is going to travel to London aboard the S.S. "American." He plans to relax before the tremendous sale of his own company's stock (or, in the 1962 version, to make an important business deal in England). Evangelist turned nightclub singer Reno Sweeney will be travelling aboard the same ship. She tells Billy "You're the Top" even though he sees her as just a friend. Billy goes to the dock to bid "Bon Voyage" to his boss and Reno and glimpses the mysterious girl from the taxi. She is heiress Hope Harcourt and is on her way to England to be married to Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in the 1987 version), an attractive, but stuffy and hapless British nobleman. Billy stows away on the ship in hopes of winning the heart of his beloved Hope. Also on the boat are "Moonface" Martin, a second-rate gangster on the lam labeled "Public Enemy 13," and his friend Bonnie (originally named Erma); the two have disguised themselves as a minister and a missionary, respectively, after stranding the ship's real chaplain back at the port. They also, mistakenly, left behind their leader, "Snake Eyes" Johnson, Public Enemy 1. Billy helps Moonface evade the detectives at the dock, and as Billy doesn't have a ticket or passport, Bonnie and Moonface let him have Snake Eyes Johnson's, without telling him to whom it belongs. Billy convinces Sir Evelyn that he is quite seasick and when he goes below deck, Billy and Hope meet again and realize both have spent sleepless nights recalling their chance meeting ("It's Delovely"). Though Hope prefers Billy to Evelyn, she insists she must marry Evelyn nonetheless; unknown to Billy, she believes her family's company is in financial trouble. A marriage to Evelyn would promote a merger and save the company. The ship's crew gets a cable from New York saying that Public Enemy number 1 is on board. Moonface admits his true identity to Billy and he and Bonnie conspire to disguise Billy as a crew member since he is now presumed to be Snake Eyes Johnson. Bonnie obtains a sailor suit for him. A quartet of sailors proclaim that "There'll Always Be a Lady Fair" waiting on shore for each of them. On deck, Bonnie proclaims, "Where Are the Men?," attracting a group of sailors and dancing off with them. She returns with a sailor suit for Billy. Hope discusses her impending marriage with Evelyn and discovers that he is not particularly pleased with the engagement either. Billy asks Reno to help separate Evelyn and Hope, and she agrees. Billy and Reno declare to each other, "You're the Top." Reno is successful enough with Evelyn to earn an invitation for a drink in his cabin. She and Moon plot that Moon should burst into the cabin and discover Reno half-naked in Evelyn's arms, providing sufficient reason for breaking off the engagement. However, when Moon breaks into the room, machine gun in tow, he instead sees Reno fully-dressed and Evelyn nearly undressed. Moon tries to invent some indecent explanation for the situation, but Evelyn insists that he would be quite pleased by any rumor depicting him as a passionate lover, especially if Hope heard it. Moon admits that the plot has failed. The crew has caught on to Billy's sailor disguise, and Moon and Reno create a new disguise for him from a stolen pair of trousers, a drunk's jacket, and hair from Mrs. Harcourt's Pomeranian made into a beard. Reno tells Billy that Evelyn has kissed her, and she is sure she will be Lady Oakleigh soon since nowadays "Anything Goes". Mrs. Harcourt angrily pulls off Billy's beard and the crew and passengers realize he must be the wanted man. As Snake Eyes Johnson, Billy is an instant celebrity.
Act Two
Billy, presumed to be "Snake Eyes" The 1st is honored by both crew and passengers. He tells the Captain that Moon (who is still disguised as a minister) is helping him reform from his wicked ways. Moon is asked to lead a revival in the ship's lounge. Reno puts her evangelistic training to good use and leads the anthem "Blow, Gabriel, Blow". The passengers confess their sins to the "Reverend", and Sir Evelyn admits to a one-night stand with a young Chinese woman. Hope is not impressed with Billy's charade, and he confesses to everyone that he is not really Snake Eyes Johnson. Moon attempts to compensate by revealing that he is not a minister; he is Public Enemy Number Thirteen. The captain is not impressed and sends them to the brig. Moon tries to cheer Billy up by urging him to "Be Like the Bluebird". Billy doubts he will ever see Hope again; he and Moon cannot leave their cell until they return to America. Their card-playing Chinese cellmates, who have been imprisoned for winning all the cash in third class, will be put ashore in England. Moon and Billy win their clothes in a game of strip poker. Billy, Moon, and Reno show up at the Oakleigh estate in Chinese garb. Billy and Moon tell Oakleigh's uncle that they are the parents of "Plum Blossom" and demand reparation for Evelyn's promiscuity. Uncle Oakleigh offers to buy them off and Moon gleefully accepts the cash, much to Billy and Reno's chagrin. Billy and Reno find Hope and Evelyn, who are unhappy with the prospect of their matrimony. Hope declares that she wildly wants to marry Billy ("The Gypsy in Me"). Billy spots Whitney and finally learns that Evelyn and Hope's planned marriage is really an awkward business merger. Billy savvily knows that Uncle Oakleigh is manipulating them all; Hope's company is really worth millions and Billy informs Whitney of that fact. Whitney offers to buy the firm from Hope at an exorbitant price, and she accepts. The marriage is called off since a merger is now impossible. Billy and Hope get married, as do Reno and Evelyn. A cable from the U.S. government fixes Billy's passport problems and declares Moon "harmless". Moon indignantly pockets Oakleigh's check and refuses to return it.
- Act 1
- I Get a Kick Out of You -- Reno Sweeney
- Bon Voyage (There's No Cure Like Travel) -- Sailor, Girl and Ship's Crew and Company
- All Through the Night (in Act II in 1987 revival) -- Billy Crocker, Hope Harcourt and Men
- Easy to Love (1987 revival) -- Billy Crocker
- I Want to Row on the Crew (not in 1934) -- Elisha J. Whitney
- Sailor's Shanty -- Quartet
- Where Are the Men? (only in 1934)
- You're the Top -- Reno Sweeney and Billy Crocker
- Friendship (first in 1962 revival) -- Reno Sweeney and Moonface Martin
- It's DeLovely (first in 1962 revival) -- Billy Crocker and Hope Harcourt
- Anything Goes -- Reno Sweeney and Company
|
- Act 2
- Public Enemy Number One -- Captain, Purser, Company
- Let's Step Out -- Bonnie (only in 1962 revival)
- What a Joy to be Young (only in 1934) -- Hope
- Let's Misbehave (only in 1962 revival) -- Reno and Sir Evelyn
- Blow, Gabriel, Blow -- Reno Sweeney and Company
- Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye (not in 1934) -- Hope Harcourt
- Be Like the Bluebird -- Moonface Martin
- All Through the Night (Reprise) -- Billy Crocker, Hope Harcourt and Men
- Buddie, Beware (1987 revival) -- Erma and Sailors
- I Get a Kick Out of You (Reprise) (finale for 1987) -- Company
- The Gypsy in Me -- Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (sung by Hope in 1934)
|
- Take Me Back To Manhattan (only in 1962 revival) -- Reno Sweeney
|
