Anything Goes
St Philips AODS
St Philips Parochial Hall, Bridgeman Street
Until Saturday

Tickets: 01204 64035 or 07712 673957

IN olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking... but not in this production of Cole Porter’s hit Anything Goes where the chorus girls weren’t shy of flashing not just their stockings but the occasional bit of thigh.

The cast attacked the production with gusto, with a full on performance from Teresa Harper as the evangalizing nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and solid turns from Adam Critchley and Carolina Garcia-Cox as the young lovers Billie Crocker and Hope Harcourt.

Set aboard the SS American, Anything Goes has the best songs of any musical, with the opening number You’re The Top showcasing Cole Porter’s lyrical genius while I Get a Kick Out of You, as made famous by Frank Sinatra, here being sung my Reno as a hymn to her rather odd paramour, the English earl Sir Evelyn Oakleigh.

“Evey”, as Reno calls him, is engaged to be married to Hope and Billie must find away to win her love and stop the marriage before the liner reaches England. This involves Critchley donning a number of ever-more ridiculous disguises, including a rather brilliant and hilarious turn as an old lady on a deck chair.

the best performances in the show, however, come from Matthew Wilkinson and Vicky Muir as public enemy number 13 “Moonface” Martin and his moll, Bonnie LeTour. Wilkinson’s accent, timing and physicality combine to show-stealing effect, and he is clearly a natural on stage.

The costumes are also excellent, and the wardrobe mistresses must have been busy creating the wispy dresses that perfectly encapsulate the romance of the 1930s. Altogether, this is a de-lightful, de-licious and utterly de-lovely production.