THEATER REVIEW
‘Anything Goes’ Produced by Gateway PAC, Bellport
Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur
Theater lovers are so fortunate here on Long Island! Not only do we have some of the most comfortable, best equipped, and accessible theaters imaginable (Engeman, Theatre Three, Star Playhouse, John Drew, Patchogue … the list goes on and on) but established show business legends frequently star in the performances staged at these classic venues.
The Gateway Playhouse in the quaint South Shore village of Bellport is a prime example of the phenomenon. The place is a sheer delight … a theatrical oasis in the peaceful and bucolic setting we prize.
In most rural areas of this country, to witness a singing-acting-dancing combo like Andrea McArdle and Sally Struthers, performing in a hit show by a composer of Cole Porter’s stature, one would have to pack up, make an hours-long trek to New York City, dodge near-lethal traffic, and shell out a few hundred bucks—not here.
We Long Islanders can treat ourselves to all the sophistication and glitz of the big city, and when the final curtain comes down on whatever star-studded production we’ve chosen, we simply applaud and head to a late dinner … confident that on another night we can repeat the process simply by driving twenty minutes in a different direction.
The Gateway’s current production of ‘Anything Goes’ with its corny, dated jokes and sight gags, is probably faithful to the original Cole Porter musical mounted on Broadway in 1934. In those days, story lines were mere vehicles to give performers a reason to burst into appropriate melodious lyrics. It was the music that was important. Porter himself called his ‘Anything Goes’score “perfect” featuring as it does, songs that have become standards like ‘I Get a Kick Out of You,’ ‘You’re the Top,’ ‘Easy To Love,’ ‘It’s De-lovely,’ and of course the great show-stopping title number.
And they’re all from the first act, folks!
It was a revelation to see how, like the great Judy Garland, Andrea McArdle (‘Reno Sweeney’) has evolved from the endearing child star who was the original ‘Annie,’ and has blossomed into an attractive, agile performer with a great big voice and free-and-easy stage presence to go with it. Similarly, Emmy Award winner Sally Struthers (All in the Family) brought back fond memories with her impeccable timing and comedic genius in the limited role of ‘Evangeline.’ One cannot take one’s eyes off of Struthers.
But the most rewarding part of the evening for this reviewer was the emergence as an A-number-one star of Josh Canfield. He’s the male lead, ‘Billy Crocker.’ Make a note, this young man is the real deal! He has a beautiful, wide-ranging singing voice … and he dances up a storm, whether waltzing or performing a buck-and-wing. What’s more, Canfield’s spoken pacing is impeccable. He pulls off the near-impossible task of keeping the often tedious story moving along … something that must be seen (and heard) to be believed.
Director Jayme McDaniel obviously must be credited for keeping Canfield and the rest of his charges on an even keel, but he probably could have chopped half the insipid dialogue from this otherwise nifty show and thereby improved it by a factor of two.
Derek McLane’s vast ‘ocean liner’ set, Jose Santiago’s impressive lighting, and the attractive period costumes by Martin Pakledinaz are all what we have come to expect of Long Island mainstage productions. Particularly satisfying, however, was Don Hanna’s Sound Design. Call me a purist, but I am always distracted by the obvious presence of microphones visible on the faces of stage actors. In ‘Anything Goes,’ not once did I spot a mic … and the sound levels were spot-on … the best I have witnessed in years!
In sum, The Gateway’s current production is a fitting tribute to Cole Porter’s inexhaustibly witty rhymes (‘The world has gone mad today—and good’s bad today—and black’s white today—and day’s night today…’) and his toe tapping melodies—even if the four guys who wrote the book might have been three too many.
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Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of eleven novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. His newest book, THE GHOSTWRITERS, explores the bizarre relationship between the late Harper Lee and Truman Capote. It maintains that each actually wrote the other’s most famous work. Ladouceur’s revealing website is www.JebsBooks.com