By Megan Holley
Farmington Community Arts Center presents Anything Goes in Farmington, Utah. Right when you walk into the theatre, the set automatically pulls you into the show. This musical takes place on a cruise ship in the 1930s, so the set looks exactly like a ship. Anything Goes is a family-friendly show and includes one lucky audience member who gets to have a chance to be onstage in costume during the performance for a few seconds.
It is so nice to review at the Farmington Community Arts Center since it is where I performed my first musical, Annie Jr., at age 6,and found my love for the arts. At the beginning of the show, it is distracting to have light from outside shining in the audience members’ faces, but once the sun goes down it isn’t a problem.
Reno Sweeney (Kayeli Hathaway) brings a lot of spunk to her character. She delivers all of her lines with so much emotion that she immediately pulls the audience in. In Reno’s duet with Billy Crocker (Garrett Collins), “You’re the Top,” Reno and Billy’s voices complement each other nicely. The comedy of this musical increases ten-fold once Billy disguises himself as an old woman and sings in an old woman’s voice, just so he can be near Hope Harcourt (Jessy Collins). Just like with each of his various disguises throughout the musical, he isn’t able to keep up the act. Hope and Billy’s rendition of “It’s De-Lovely” is breathtaking. When Evangeline Harcourt (Jennifer Kessler), Hope’s mother, barges in, her entrance brings a beautifully dramatic end to the song. Her flaunting of Hope’s engagement to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Garrett Biesinger) thickens the plot. Erma (Jessica Andrus) uses her flirtatious manner to her advantage as an evil sidekick to Moonface Martin (Doug Wayment). In the most famous song from Anything Goes, “Anything Goes,” the choreography is impressive, although the tap dancing isn’t in sync some of the time.
Director Spencer J. Bawden demonstrates his love for the arts in his direction of this amazing cast. Bawden cast this show perfectly to ensure each actor’s voice fits the character they’re portraying, and then he taught them the onstage stances and behaviors of the 1930s. Music director Ali Trevino really ensures that the group numbers’ harmonies sound impeccable, even around the microphones cutting in and out, requiring that the actors project their voices a little more. Choreographer Amaris DiScullio demonstrates her knowledge of dance moves from various time periods, successfully incorporating the Charleston, foxtrot, and the tango into the musical numbers. Sound designer Tery Binkerd balances the music tracks to the microphones nicely, so one never overpowers the other. Additionally, Binkerd is able to improv with the music tracks when scene changes take longer than expected. Lighting designer Adam Hellewell goes above and beyond when it comes to lighting: During Hathaway and Biesinger’s tango number, he changes the lighting to a red hue in it once they start dancing with a rose.
Come sail away with the cast of Anything Goes. You’ll want to arrive early for concessions that cost $1 per item (cash only), and because only the first three rows of chairs are cushioned. This family friendly show won’t last forever, so hurry over to Farmington, Utah, and experience this wonderful show.
Farmington Community Arts Center Presents Anything Goes, Original Book by P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse, Lyrics by Cole Porter.
Farmington Community Arts Center, 120 South Main Street, Farmington, Utah 84025
Contact: 801-451-0953
July 29-August 3, 2019, 7:00 PM
Tickets: $6.00 per person
Farmington Community Arts Facebook Page
Anything Goes Event Facebook Page
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