Anything Goes, WAOS - Witham

Guest Reviewer: Christine Adams-Davidson

Director Nikki Mundell-Poole has again excelled herself with her stunning show ‘Anything Goes’.  This was a feast for the eyes with a very clever set using stairs at both sides of the stage, leading to an upper gangway, whilst underneath a super projection showed two outside cabins and then the insides of both. The costumes and wigs were stunning  and the whole production shouted out class.  The opening of Act 2 with the red costumes was a real wow.

Full of brilliant songs, comedy and romance this show written by Cole Porter, will definitely get your feet tapping and go home humming the classic songs of the era.

Amy Hart as Reno Sweeney stole the show.  Looking a million dollars she had the most amazing voice and wowed the audience with her stage presence.  Opening the show with ‘I get a kick out of you’ we knew we were in for a tremendous night out. She also excelled in her dancing with a standout performance tap routine in the show title song “Anything Goes”. As for her rendition with the ensemble of ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’, it did blow us away!!

Paul Flynn as Billy Crocker had great vocals and his acting and dancing throughout the show was excellent.  His love interest Hope Harcourt (Hannah Ambrose) had such a beautiful almost operatic voice that I would have loved to have listened to more from her. Together they made a fantastic very believable couple and their song ‘Its De-lovely’ was sung beautifully together.

We really enjoyed the duo of Moon Face Martin (Graham Bowden) and blonde bombshell Erma (Susy Hawkes-Dighton.  Good characterisation of both actors and both were able to show great chemistry and were never out of character with fun songs ‘Be like a bluebird’ (Bowden) and ‘Buddy Beware’ (Hawkes-Dighton).

Tim Clarke as Lord Evelyn Oakley was such a wonderful role to play. We loved his portrayal and his singing and dancing to the song ‘Gypsy in me’ got all the audience laughing. He really was superb in the role. 

Michael Mundell-Poole as Elisha Whitney and his love interest Evangeline Harcourt (Maeve Borges) gave us all a lesson in experienced acting ability. Both shone in their roles and added to the overall comedic moments.

Too many other characters to mention as there were thirty four in the cast but each and every one gave their all and you could see by the smiles on their faces and the energy and pace of the show that they were enjoying every moment of this excellent production.

The orchestra led by Jessie Tabor added to magic of the show and never drowned out the excellent singing from the whole cast. This was a really great night out and I urge you all to get a ticket. You won’t regret it!!