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Anything Goes

anything goes programme

Anything Goes

The Cole Porter classic follows stoaway Billy Crocker on his whirlwind endeavour to win the heart of glamorous society heiress, Hope Harcourt, before the ship reaches port. With the help of his friend Reno Sweeney, and several cases of mistaken identity, Billy rigs a plot to trick Hope’s overbearing mother, her wealthy aristocratic fiance and the ship’s Captain, so he can be alone with Hope and confess his love. But will it all go according to plan?

anything goes 1Awash with some of Cole Porter’s best loved songs including: ‘You’re the Top’, ‘Friendship’, ‘It’s De-Lovely’ and the title song ‘Anything Goes’.

Anything Goes was performed from 16th – 19th May 2018 at the Hexagon Theatre, Reading.

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.

Anything Goes was directed by Matthew Smith, assisted by Kazia Grainger, with musical direction by Jon Brooks, choreography by Denise Schult and lighting design by Kim Hollamby.

Read the review of Anything Goes in the Wokinham Paper here.

Read the NODA review of Anything Goes here.

 

What the audience said

Really enjoyed the performance tonight. The choreography was superb and the slickest he has ever seen from the Sainsbury Singers (Well done Denise Schult!) and loved the performances of Louise Quelch (Bonnie), Hilary Latimer (Mrs Harcourt), Steve Jewell (Moonface Martin) and Brian Bretney (Sir Evelyn Oakleigh) in particular, but generally thought everyone was fabulous!

Great show last night. Thoroughly enjoyed by all our party. Well done all!

It was really, really good. He loved the performances and the comedy acting. A fantastic show.

Thanks for a wonderful show last night. The dancing and choreography were even better than usual – great tap dancing – and the costumes were fantastic. Everyone was great, but special mention to Lorraine as Reno and Steve as Moonface Martin who were outstanding. Our favourite musical numbers were Friendship and Anything Goes. The set was very good too.

Congratulations on your opening night performance, one to be proud of. There is so much I love about this show – the characterisations, the chemistry, the background stories, the dancing, the lighting, the music, the list goes on and on. It was wonderful to see 200 people laughing and enjoying themselves – you made that happen! The power you have to entertain as individuals and a collective is one that should not be underestimated, it is a gift. Well done and thank you!

Was an epic show, I really enjoyed it! Tell all the cast I thought everyone did an excellent job as well.

Fantastic evening at the Hexagon watching Anything Goes. The whole cast was amazing. Highly recommended.

The show was really good tonight, I enjoyed it! Good luck for all the other nights.

It was very different to the Wizard of Oz but we enjoyed it. There were lots of great one liner comedy moments in the script. We really liked the two main guys, also the British guy (he reminded me of general melchett) and the over the top American accomplice. We didn’t really know many of the songs but we thought it was a great show.

Thank you Sainsbury Singers for a great performance yesterday evening. I loved it and remembered all the old songs, must be my age. Well done one and all. I look forward to more of the same.

Another triumph! I really enjoyed Anything Goes, especially the singing and dancing. The highlight for me…Blow, Gabriel, Blow and watching all your smiling faces. I believe the society is in a very good place at the moment; to produce shows from The Wizard of Oz, to Godspell, to Anything Goes, always casting from within the Sainsbury Singers “Family” is quite an achievement. Well done everyone, on stage and behind the scenes!

“Anything Goes”! – and it went very well indeed. Staging was simple and effective and gave a real feel for the time this musical was set (1930s). Lighting and colour simply added to the overall effect. Choreography was often dazzling and always very good. Performances were generally excellent and it seems a pity to single out individuals but comedic laurels were well earned by Stephen Cox (Billy), Steve Jewell (Moonface Martin) and Louise Quelch (Bonnie). Singing plaudits were particularly well deserved by Lorraine Cox (Reno) and Helen Thomas (Hope), the latter giving a beautifully controlled rendition of “All Through the Night” and a dynamic performance of “It’s De-Lovely” both with Stephen Cox. Brian Bretney (Sir Evelyn Oakleigh) was a commanding presence as always. Judging from this performance he could be a good stand-in for Prince Charles!

Absolutely brilliant yet again, so glad I got to see it, can’t wait to see the next one. Better than West End!

Well done everyone! So lovely to see you all up there, you’d all worked so hard. Congratulations also to the behind stage crew, very much part of the success!

Amazing show, well done to all the cast – you did so well! Admired the sign language lady, absolutely amazing. Well worth visiting from Staffordshire.

Absolutely loved the show last night. Everyone was brilliant, the songs were great, absolutely loved the harmonies when everyone sang together, no-one put a foot wrong in the dances and the dialogue was hilarious! The best bit was that we could see that everyone absolutely loved being on stage and performing, and it just made it that much better!

Lovely show – and brilliant choreography – Anything Goes and Blow Gabriel Blow are real show stoppers!

Great show, loved the choreography – especially the tap dancing!

 

Gallery

anything goes cast stage

Cast

  • Reno Sweeney Lorraine Cox
  • Billy Crocker Stephen Cox
  • Hope Harcourt Helen Thomas
  • Sir Evelyn Oakleigh Brian Bretney
  • Moonface Martin Steve Jewell
  • Bonnie Louise Quelch
  • Charity Emily Hutchings
  • Chastity Lucy Hutson
  • Purity Hannah Scarisbrick-Rowe
  • Virture Catherine Hannan
  • Mrs Harcourt Hilary Latimer
  • Elisa J Whitney Michael Schult
  • Captain Rob Latimer
  • Purser Katie Wise
  • Steward Chris Thomas
  • Ching Gareth Wells
  • Ling Chris Howard
  • Sailors Federico Donati, Joshua Bethel
  • Bishop Federico Donati
  • Camerawoman Sara El-Hanfy
  • Reporter Jessamy Vincent
  • Passengers  Chris Howard, Claire Wilson, Denise Schult, Emma Bradbury, Emma Fry, Federico Donati, Gareth Wells, Gemma Bagshaw, Godfrey Chigona, Jessamy Vincent, Joshua Bethel, Kelly Herman, Sara El-Hanfy.
  • Bonnie Understudy Kazia Grainger

Anything Goes Orchestra

    • Piano and MD Jon Brooks
    • Bass Jim Pullen
    • Percussion Julian Bown
    • Reeds 1 Anna O’Brien
    • Reeds 2 Anton Gwilt
    • Trombone Alex Turvey
    • Trumpet James Lowe

Behind the Scenes

  • Director Matthew Smith
  • Musical Director Jon Brooks
  • Choreographer Denise Schult
  • Assistant Directors Kazia Grainger
  • Production Coordinator Susan Richardson
  • Lighting Designer Kim Hollamby
  • Lighting Programmer & Operator Adrian Croton (The Hexagon)
  • Follow Spots & Lighting Assistants Louis Martin
  • Lighting and Effects Projection Hire Dinrino Theatre Services
  • Additional Lighting Equipment Kim Hollamby
  • Stage Manager John Simmonds
  • Deputy Stage Manager Becca Simons & Jackie Stoffels
  • Stage Crew Joe Daniels & Danny Humby
  • Hexagon Stage Management Steve Foster & Joy Iliff
  • Hexagon Sound Board John Ollerenshaw
  • Sound Assistant Sally Ollerenshaw
  • Sound Effects Brian Bretney
  • Props and Set Kazia Grainger & Matthew Smith
  • Bunk Beds and Brig Building Russell Smith
  • Wardrobe Team Amanda Bretney & Emma Reeves
  • Makeup Catherine Hannan & Rachel Sargeant
  • Hair and Wigs Catherine Hannan
  • Musical Interpreter Stacey Stockwell
  • Prompt Rachel Sargeant
  • Displays Marketing Team and Emma Reeves
  • Front of House Presentation Jessamy Vincent
  • Webmaster Kim Hollamby
  • Website Content Manager Katie Wise
  • Marketing Team Emma Bradbury, Kazia Grant, Louise Quelch, Denise Schult, Katie Wise
  • Programme and Handbill Design Jessamy Vincent
  • Publishing Manager Jessamy Vincent
  • Photography Ray Wilmott 
  • Fundraising Team Rob Latimer, Michael Schult, Kerry Thomas
  • Social Team Stephen Cox, Catherine Hannan, Chris Reeves, Emma Reeves

Society Front of House Team

  • Ticket Officer Anne Jones
  • Front of House Manager John Jones
  • Front of House Liaison Michael Schult
  • Front of House Volunteers Sam Blake, Maria Carratt, Samara Farrow, Emma Fry, Rob Furnell, Linda Hill, Jo O’Mahoney, Emma Reeves, Andy Schult, David Schult, Laura Schult and Kerry Thomas.