Anything Goes | Tyne Theatre and Opera House
23rd April 2025 | Invited | Review by Stephen Stokoe
It’s all aboard and anchors aweigh at The Tyne Theatre and Opera House this week as WEOS Musical Productions presents Cole Porter’s Anything Goes. If you have not been to the Tyne Theatre recently then you will find some changes. There is a lovely cafe which is open 10-3 Monday to Friday and the bar area has been opened out offering the usual drinks and refreshments before the show.
Tonight I was invited to review this toe tapping musical farce which sees the SS American set sail from New York to London with a variety of characters setting sail for a variety of reasons. First we have debutante Hope Harcourt (Hannah Ellis Brown) who is returning to England to marry her fiancé Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Andrew Fearon). Joining them is the love struck Billy Crocker (Alex Easten) who is fallen in love with the aforementioned debutante, a gangster by the name of Moonface Martin (Stu Liddle) with sidekick Erma (Sarah McKinnell) and Yale graduate and businessman Elijah Whitney (Brian Jordan) and charismatic nightclub singer (Lucy Sutton) completing the passengers.
They all have their own reasons for being on board, but as the story unfolds, their lives become intertwined into a tale of intrigue, fun and escapades on the high seas.
Even before the action starts, the captain of the ship (David Rawlings) and his dutiful and wonderfully camp purser (Euan Bell) welcome the audience onto the ship promising that, against all probability, the journey will be plain sailing and all will be well.
With the orchestra on stage, the front of the stage was adorned to represent the gangway to a ship allowing all the crew and passengers to board. I know that Jonathan Mellor of Tyne Audio who also provided the sound for the production was involved with making this look the part and a jolly good job he made of it too.
As the orchestra struck up conducted by Musical Director, Andrew Soulsby, we set sail. Anything Goes is an old school musical which has some of Cole Porter’s classics including the title number, Friendship, I get a Kick Out of You and It’s De-Lovely all of which were performed brilliantly by this sizeable and talented cast.
Offering a ‘will they, won’t they’ storyline, Easten and Brown are endearing and both match each other beautifully with their strong vocals and chemistry. Fearon is his pompous and bombastic best as the peer of the realm with a secret and the revealing in the second half is great fun. Sutton shines throughout with her happy-go-lucky but needy showgirl and really excels as she sings ‘Anything Goes’ to close act one.
The direction by regulars Sandra Laidler and Carl Luke is superb with some showstopping numbers which have the audience tapping their toes and singing along. There is a lot of attention to detail which I have come to expect from this team including exquisite hand movements in the choreography, delightful showstoppers and tonight, the fact the dog got his own little life-preserver was a particularly adorable touch. The dog is not credited in the programme which is a shame.
Anything Goes is a musical theatre classic and has been revived many times over the years. Long may this comedy musical grace the stage with its madcap humour and timeless musical classics. I am going to choose two stars of the show, which was very difficult with it being such an ensemble piece. Stu Liddle is outstanding as Moonface Martin, his comedy timing is quite perfect and you cannot help but watch him whenever he is onstage. My second star goes to Euan Bell as The Purser who was present even before the band struck up and his characterisation and facial expressions were perfect. As I mentioned before, Anything Goes, is an ensemble piece and therefore an honourable mention has to go to the hard-working and tireless dancers and ensemble for a job incredibly well done indeed.