UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 25, Page 4
March 23, 1995
'Anything Goes' to take Mitchell Hall stage April 7

     The new, national touring company of Anything Goes, the American
stage classic that takes place aboard the S.S. American, will sail
into Newark Friday, April 7, for an 8 p.m. performance in Mitchell
Hall.
     This delightful evening of musical comedy and dance features well-
loved Cole Porter classics like "You're The Top" and "I Get A Kick Out
of You."
     Anything Goes established Porter as one of Broadway's most
brilliant songwriters and made a star of Ethel Merman, who was a hit
in the role of Reno Sweeney. The original idea for the show was to
demonstrate what happens when a disaster at sea casts a strange
assortment of luxury-liner passengers ashore on a desert island.
     The show was ready to go into rehearsal when a very real and
terrible sea disaster occurred, shocking the nation. The idea of
making light of such a catastrophe was suddenly out of the question.
Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse were hastily hired to rewrite the
script using the actors, songs and set that had already been
assembled.
     The hastily revised Anything Goes opened in New York in November
of 1934, where it was an enormous hit and played for just over a year.
That was followed by a long and triumphant national tour and two movie
versions made 20 years apart.
     A 1987 revival went on to win the 1988 Tony Award for Best
Revival, the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Award.
     "This version," Clive Barnes wrote, "follows the original at a
respectable distance, being both sharper and more cohesive....The
music is the nearest thing the 20th century ever got to Mozart, and
for sheer verbal magic, simple dazzlement, Porter's lyrics surpass
even such theatrical masters as Lerner and Sondheim."
     The Newark performance is sponsored by the Performing Arts
Series. Tickets are $18 for the general public, $13 for UD faculty,
staff and senior citizens and $10 for students. For tickets or more
information, call 831-2204.