DELMAR — Bethlehem Central High School’s Stage 700 will present the musical “Anything Goes” from Thursday, April 3, to Sunday, April 6.
The show features Cole Porter songs, including “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Friendship,” “It’s De-Lovely” and the title song, “Anything Goes.” The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1934 and has been updated for modern audiences, tells the story of mismatched lovers, mistaken identity, and mischievous gangsters traveling from New York to London on a cruise ship in the mid-1930s.
The cast includes sophomore Michael Jantson as lovelorn stockbroker Billy Crocker, who stows away in pursuit of Hope Harcourt, played by sophomore Emily Schneiderheinze. Harcourt is traveling with her fiancé, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, played by senior Nathaniel Holbrook, and her mother, Evangeline, played by senior Johanna Radcliffe. Other characters include Billy’s boss, Elisha Whitney, played by junior Jeremy Cintron Ortiz; gangster Moonface Martin, a.k.a. “Public Enemy Number 13,” played by sophomore Ben Cross; his pal Erma, played by senior Charlotte Kaleta; and nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, played by senior Ellie Pokabla.
The production also features a live orchestra with BCHS students and professional musicians, as well as student and parent volunteers for tech, lighting, stage design, set building, props, and costuming.
Stage 700 Director Amy Roos says “Anything Goes” is a jazz-age musical written as “pure escapism during the Great Depression Era.” Roos adds that the lyrics of the title song “still ring true beginning with ‘the world has gone mad today.’”
Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 6. Each performance is about 2 hours and 15 minutes, including intermission.
Tickets, which go on sale March 10, are $12 for regular admission and $10 for students.
They can be purchased online at www.bcstage700.org/tickets, and any remaining tickets will be available at the door..
