Anything Goes Will Play Broadway's Stephen Sondheim Theatre; Opening Is April 7, 2011

By Kenneth Jones
21 Jul 2010

Sutton Foster
Sutton Foster
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Roundabout Theatre Company's new production of Cole Porter's Anything Goes, the shipboard musical comedy starring Sutton Foster, will dock at Broadway's Stephen Sondheim Theatre starting March 10, 2011.

The official opening will be April 7. Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall will direct and choreograph the production, which uses the 1987 Timothy Crouse-John Weidman revision of the original 1934 libretto by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton. (Lincoln Center staged that revision, marking the first Broadway revival of the show in more than 50 years. It won the Best Revival Tony Award.)

As previously announced, Tony winner Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie) will play nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney, who sings some of Porter's most famous music and lyrics ("I Get a Kick Out of You," "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," "You're the Top" and more). Ethel Merman created the role and sang its standards throughout her long career.

The creative team includes Rob Fisher (music supervisor). The design team includes Derek McLane (sets), Martin Pakledinaz (costumes) and Peter Kaczorowski (lights). Additional design team and cast members will be announced shortly.

This will not be a downsized version of the large-cast, brassy show, according to Roundabout artistic director Todd Haimes. "Roundabout is committed to producing high quality musical revivals, and we will continue to do these shows on whatever scale is right for the particular production," Haimes wrote on myroundaboutblog.com. "Anything Goes, like many musicals of its period, is not exactly what you'd call a chamber musical. It's a big ensemble piece, and that's exactly what makes this show such a joy. I don't think you can do Anything Goes properly without embracing its size."

Haimes added, "Anything Goes was a show that I've always wanted to do, and when I brought the idea to Kathleen, it was immediately clear that we had a great match here. It's not always the case that I can so confidently bring a project like this to a director, and in fact I often find that we get great work from directors coming to me with their passion projects. But this was a situation where we have such history with the artist, going all the way back to when Kathleen was the assistant choreographer on Roundabout's first musical, She Loves Me, back in 1993, that I just knew her work so well and truly had no doubt that this would be a perfect fit. Kathleen is pretty singular as both a director and choreographer in her ability to revitalize classic American musicals. She loves and appreciates the form, but she also has the ability to make it her own and give it a fresh perspective for today's audiences."

The Stephen Sondheim Theatre (formerly Henry Miller's Theatre, at 124 W. 43rd Street) will be christened with a marquee unveiling in the 2010-11 season.

Here's how Roundabout describes the classic: "All aboard for this saucy and splendid new production of Cole Porter's musical romp across the Atlantic. When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love… proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, an exotic disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. Peppering this hilariously bumpy ride are some of musical theatre's most memorable standards, including 'You're the Top,' 'Blow, Gabriel, Blow,' 'It's De-Lovely,' 'I Get A Kick Out of You' and 'Anything Goes.'"

Marshall is a two-time Tony Award winner, for her choreography for Wonderful Town (which she also directed) and Roundabout's Tony Award-winning The Pajama Game (which she also directed). She also choreographed Roundabout's productions of Follies and 1776. Marshall also directed and choreographed the most recent Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Grease.

Roundabout subscribers have first access to Anything Goes tickets. Visit www.roundabouttheatre.org/joinnow for details. Single tickets for Anything Goes will be available to the general public in fall 2010.

The performance schedule will be Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 PM with a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2 PM.