Audiences will be sure to “get a kick” out of this year’s Bethlehem High School musical.
All of the deceit, romance and comedy of the Stage 700 production by Guy Bolton and P.J. Wodehouse takes place aboard the S.S. America as the Bethlehem cast presents “Anything Goes.”
“Danielle Vincent, the choreographer, has long wanted to do ‘Anything Goes’ and in honor of the impending birth of her daughter Dulcinea, we dedicated this ‘Anything Goes,’” said Director James Yeara. “Plus, I loved the Sutton Foster starring vehicle currently on Broadway.”
Set in the 1930s with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, the production is about a Wall Street stockbroker who secretly falls in love with a New York City heiress. To steal the girl’s heart away from her betrothed, the young man stows away on an ocean liner headed London and to escape capture, must change his identity throughout the show.
“’Anything Goes’ will make you laugh, make you want to sing and will get you up on your feet to dance long into the night,” said Yeara. “In fact, we’ve been warned that we may have to put up special tap dance and fox trot areas in the parking lot.”
The show includes more that 100 cast and crew members and took months to produce.
Yeara said the show’s “silliness and joie de vivre” fits the talent of this year’s cast nicely.
Senior Ian Dembling plays lead Billy Crocker, out to win the love of debutant Hope Harcourt.
“Billy Crocker is quite a character and that’s what I like about him,” said Dembling. “He’s kind of the heartthrob of New York City basically and he’s in love. And what do you do when you’re in love? You do things irrationally.”
By playing Crocker, Dembling was given the chance to enhance the breadth of his acting skills. Since the protagonist is always attempting to evade capture, he is in disguise throughout most of the production.
Francesca DiGiorgio, a junior, plays Crocker’s love interest.
“I like the fact that she’s got that ingénue,” said DiGiorgio of her character. “You know, she’s got that innocence, that glow to her that not a lot of the other characters in the show have. She’s kind of young and has been tossed into this world of aristocratic culture. She’s expected to go and marry this wealthy man who she doesn’t really love, which is Billy.”
Yeara raved about his cast and the unique choreography created by Vincent.
“Bethlehem is blessed year after year with very talented students and despite being told that ‘Bethlehem kids can’t tap,’ Danielle Vincent will show the grumblers to be wrong,” he said.
Vincent said she’s waited years to direct the dancing for “Anything Goes” because it is a tap show and she has a tap background. She was actually surprised by the amount of students who auditioned with tapping skills.
“There were girls who came and said ‘I’m not a singer, I’m not an actor, but I can dance and I want to be a part of the show,’” she said. “So it’s nice that it pulls people in who normally wouldn’t do this sort of thing.”
Mary Allendorph, who plays an Evangelist-turned-nightclub-singer, said the audience will love the show because the production is colorful and each character has a different, relatable personality.
“And the music is great,” she said. “This year in particular, with the ensemble, we sound really great.”
According to Yeara, “Anything Goes” has been overhauled at least three times since it was first produced in 1934 and although some of the jokes are older, it is still popular.
“’Anything Goes’ was a Tony Award winner just last year and is still packing the house on Broadway,” he said.
Seamus Barrett, who plays Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, the fiancé of Hope Harcourt, said he likes performing the classic comedy of the early Broadway shows because in recent years the shows the troupe produced were newer, like “Seussical the Musical.”
“I think the audience is going to walk away with an experience they’ve never seen at Stage 700 before,” he said.
Show times are March 29, 30 and 31 at 7 p.m. and April 1 at 2 p.m. at the Bethlehem High School auditorium. Tickets go on sale Thursday, March 15 and cost $8 for seniors, students and military personnel, and $10 for adults.
To learn more, visit www.stage700.com.
