Croswell Opera House stages 'Anything Goes' this weekend and next

Arlene Bachanov
·4 min read
Amber Woollcott as Reno Sweeney leads the cast in "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" in a scene from "Anything Goes" at the Croswell Opera House.
Amber Woollcott as Reno Sweeney leads the cast in "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" in a scene from "Anything Goes" at the Croswell Opera House.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

ADRIAN — “I love Cole Porter. His shows are as American as apple pie.”

That’s Mark DiPietro, director of the Croswell Opera House's upcoming production of “Anything Goes,” one of American musical theater’s most iconic shows and certainly one of Porter’s best-known works.

The show opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12. Additional performances are at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21.

Tickets range from $20-$40 and may be ordered by calling 517-264-7469 or online at croswell.org.

Steven Kiss as Billy Crocker and Sydney Bramlett as Hope Harcourt are pictured in a scene from "Anything Goes" at the Croswell Opera House.
Steven Kiss as Billy Crocker and Sydney Bramlett as Hope Harcourt are pictured in a scene from "Anything Goes" at the Croswell Opera House.

“Anything Goes” was first produced in 1934 and since then has been altered three different times. Compared to the original version, some of the story has changed and songs have been moved from one spot to another, given to different characters, dropped entirely, or imported from completely different Porter musicals.

The version the Croswell is producing comes from the 2011 Broadway revival starring Sutton Foster and Joel Grey.

The madcap action takes place on the luxury liner S.S. American, traveling from New York to London. Among the passengers are Reno Sweeney, an evangelist turned nightclub singer; young Billy Crocker and his boss, financier Elisha Whitney; debutante Hope Harcourt, her fiancé, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, and her mother, Evangeline; gangster Moonface Martin (Public Enemy No. 13), who’s fleeing the FBI; and Erma LaTour, the girlfriend of the gangster who’s Public Enemy No. 1.

Mistaken identities, disguises and the complications brought about by a love triangle abound.

In the Croswell’s production, Amber Woollcott (Grand Blanc) plays Reno Sweeney, while Steven Kiss (Temperance) plays Billy Crocker. Sydney Bramlett (Adrian) plays Hope Harcourt, Joseph Ball (Perrysburg) is Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, and Mary Rumman (Milan) plays Evangeline.

Anjewel Lenoir as Erma LaTour sings to a bevy of lovestruck sailors in a scene from "Anything Goes" at the Croswell Opera House.
Anjewel Lenoir as Erma LaTour sings to a bevy of lovestruck sailors in a scene from "Anything Goes" at the Croswell Opera House.

Filling out the cast in a variety of roles are Jon Antalek, Matthew Antalek, Adam Baker, Madeline Bough, Madelyn Bowman, Jessica Briggs, Kylie Bushman, Bennice Byles, Aiyanna Fivecoat, Abby Hall, Sarahfay Hendin, Emily Hribar, Abby Knight, Logan Richardson, Savannah Ritter, Eli Stachowske, Eric Stone, Griffin Yeater and Hallie Yuen, all of Adrian; Ron Baumanis of Ann Arbor; Aaron Treadway of Clinton; Gabrielle Blondin of Linden; Wyatt DuFord of Riga; John Verellen of Romeo; Camdenne Kruse of Tecumseh; Arden Roberts of Bowling Green, Ohio; Abraham Nixon of Monclova, Ohio; and Henry Seifried, Katie Trumbull and Joel Twitchell, all of Toledo.

Choreography is by Sarah Nowak with vocal direction by Mandy Kruse and music direction by Ray Novak.

“Anything Goes” contains a bevy of some of Cole Porter’s greatest hits. “There’s ‘I Get a Kick Out of You,’ ‘You’re the Top,’ ‘Friendship,’ ‘It’s De-Lovely,’ and ‘Anything Goes’ — and that’s just Act I,” DiPietro said.

Act II only continues the Porter hit parade with “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” and “All Through the Night,” along with a host of other tunes.

DiPietro thinks that this particular show is one of American musical theater’s early touchstones. “I think this is THE show of the 1930s,” he said. “In the ‘20s it was ‘Show Boat’ and then in the ‘40s it was ‘Oklahoma!’ These were things that reinvigorated musical theater.”

To him, all those iconic Porter tunes, which come in styles ranging from torch songs and ballads to huge production numbers, are part of what give the show its lasting appeal. “His lyrics resonate with all of us,” he said.

His fondness for the show has its personal side, too. It’s the first show he ever directed as a member of the Siena Heights University theater faculty, and he directed the Croswell’s most previous production of it.

“It’s one of those great American shows,” he said. “And it’s one of a handful of the oldies that I love.”

Mary Rumman as Evangeline Harcourt and William E. McCloskey as Eli Whitney are pictured in a scene from "Anything Goes" at the Croswell Opera House.
Mary Rumman as Evangeline Harcourt and William E. McCloskey as Eli Whitney are pictured in a scene from "Anything Goes" at the Croswell Opera House.

It’s also a challenge for everyone involved.

“The show is big, and it’s hard,” he said. “The vocals, the dance, the timing are all huge. And it’s the kind of show that just has to keep on moving.”

And he thinks audiences will love watching and listening as it all unfolds onstage: the zaniness of the plot, all that Cole Porter music, and the dancing. Those range from a soft-shoe for Antalek that DiPietro wanted added in just so audiences could see some of that historical dance form, to an Act I finale that Nowak choreographed so it steadily grows from just three tap-dancers into a huge tap number.

“It’s a phenomenal show,” DiPietro said. “It’s magical. And that’s what I love about Cole Porter the most.”

If you go 

WHAT: “Anything Goes” 

WHERE: Croswell Opera House, 129 E. Maumee St., Adrian 

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21 

TICKETS: $20-$40 

HOW TO ORDER: By calling 517-264-7469 or online at croswell.org 

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Croswell Opera House stages 'Anything Goes'