NY Times Review: Joyous Energy Fills ‘Anything Goes,’ at Gateway Playhouse

By Eileen Jacobson.

​If you try to imagine a grown-up Annie, of the musical by that name, you might easily find her to be a lot like Reno Sweeney, the lead character of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” — sassy and brassy, big-hearted and big-voiced. And still with red hair. It is no surprise, then, that Andrea McArdle, the original Broadway Annie, who won a 1977 Tony nomination for her performance, makes a smashing Reno. The role of the naughty nightclub singer was originated in 1934 by Ethel Merman. Ms. McArdle is the centerpiece of “Anything Goes” at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, but hardly its only asset. She is surrounded by other outstanding actors, a sparkling nautical set and fine musical accompaniment. Jayme McDaniel, the director, has melded all of the elements into a production filled with joyous energy.

The cast also features Sally Struthers, best known for playing Archie Bunker’s daughter, Gloria, in the 1970s television series “All in the Family.” Ms. Struthers gamely and expertly portrays Evangeline Harcourt, a matronly widow intent on marrying off her lovely and compliant daughter Hope to the wealthy Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, so she and Hope can recoup the fortune they lost during the 1929 stock market crash. Ms. Struthers lands her jokes, both verbal and physical, while gracefully remaining sympathetic. The well-behaved terrier that sometimes accompanies her is played by her very own pet, Little Bradford T. Kenney, making his stage debut, according to the program.
This musical, often revived, is more celebrated for its Porter songs, with their clever lyrics (“I Get a Kick Out of You,” “It’s De-Lovely,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” and, of course, the title song), than for its convoluted story line — though the pun-filled dialogue is amusing and snappily delivered by the talented cast. The original book was written by P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, who included a shipwreck, and by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who made alterations after a deadly ocean liner accident made the wreckage plot untenable. Timothy Crouse (Russel’s son) and John Weidman wrote a new book, used in this production, for the 1987 Broadway revival.

Among the lovable, very funny actors in prominent roles are Steve Brady as Elisha Whitney, a hard-drinking stockbroker and excessively proud “Yale man” who secretly carries a torch for Evangeline; Ray DeMattis as Moonface Martin, a bumbling gangster who wants more respect; and Mychal Phillips as Erma, another gangster’s girlfriend, who has just the right raucous voice and strut for her role.
Ian Knauer is spot on as the clueless but kindhearted Lord Evelyn, a reserved Englishman who mangles the American idioms he tries hard to imitate. Mr. Knauer also executes one of the brightest bits of Jason Wise’s lively choreography while recalling an indiscretion from his past in “The Gypsy in Me.”
The young lovers whose star-crossed romance accounts for many complications are ably played by Patti-Lee Meringo (as Hope, Lord Evelyn’s conflicted fiancée) and Josh Canfield (as Billy Crocker, a fledgling stockbroker who stows away to be with Hope). They float through Fred-and-Ginger-like waltzes and make butter of their ballads, including “Easy to Love,” “All Through the Night” and, for Hope alone, a particularly lyrical “Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye.”

Billy is also being pursued, brazenly but not entirely seriously, by Reno. Ms. McArdle brings a playful tone to her infatuation, and Mr. Canfield reacts with amusement and warmth. They sing a rousing “You’re the Top,” a standout in a show filled with peaks.
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Derek McLane’s handsome set (from the tour of the 2011 Broadway revival, which he also designed) provides a fitting background for the action. Martin Pakledinaz’s costume designs (likewise from the 2011 Broadway show and tour) are also splendid. Gateway’s supporting cast members, among them the four “Angels” who are Reno’s backup singers for her nightclub act and the Sailor Quartet, are top-notch, too.
The entire company shows off its pipes and fancy footwork in the finale and in the curtain-call number, “Bows.” The show stays dazzling to the end.