‘Anything Goes’ hoists sails at IU

Aboard the S.S. American, the IU Theatre Department will go back to the 1920s with Cole Porter’s musical “Anything Goes.”

Opening at 7:30 p.m. Friday, “Anything Goes” will close IU Theatre’s 2010-11 season. All performances take place at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre of  the Lee Norvelle Theatre & Drama Center.

On this ship, Billy Crocker, played by junior Ethan Carpenter, strives to win the love of Hope Harcourt, played by senior Kerry Ipema. Teaming up with a known criminal Moonface Martin, played by senior Martin Brent, the cast taps its way across the S.S.
American.

The show is filled with Cole Porter’s upbeat music and dance numbers, such as “Anything Goes,” “You’re the Top,” “I Get a Kick Out of You” and “Let’s Misbehave.”
Head of Musical Theatre George Pinney directed the undergraduate cast and graduate crew after a 35-year break from the musical.

“We did the musical in the high school gym with lights made from big, industrial cans from the cafeteria,” he said in a press release.
Pinney directed it at Auburn High School in Auburn, Ill., in 1976. IU Theatre’s take on

“Anything Goes” is more sophisticated, he said.

Fifth-year senior William Angulo choreographed the show. Angulo is Pinney’s first-ever full-time student choreographer.  

“Angulo’s interpretation of the dancing is exhilarating,” Pinney said. “He is also an excellent teacher with a brilliant, meticulous approach.”

Pinney said the entire creative team and cast have been a joy to work with.

Pinney also said the show is a “crisp, clean, Art Deco approach to create an environment where sailors always wear tap shoes, public enemies try to do better, and songs are sung at the drop of a champagne bucket.”

— Kelsey Holder