International NewsLondon Revival of Anything Goes Ends Run at the Barbican November 6Rachel York succeeded Tony winner Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney in the Cole Porter classic.
By
Andrew Gans
November 06, 2021
Rachel York as Reno Sweeney
courtesy of Neil Reading PR
The London revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes, which began previews July 23 prior to an official opening August 4, ends its run November 6 at the Barbican Theatre.
Rachel York, who starred in the U.S. national tour of Anything Goes, succeeded two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster in the role of Reno Sweeney October 12. Foster opened the production (read the reviews here) and played her final performance October 10. She is next scheduled to star opposite Hugh Jackman in a Broadway revival of The Music Man.
Directed and choreographed by Tony winner Kathleen Marshall—who helmed the 2011 Broadway revival of the Cole Porter musical—the London company of Anything Goes also includes Tony and Olivier winner Robert Lindsay as Moonface Martin, Gary Wilmot as Elisha Whitney, Tony and Olivier nominee HaydnGwynne as Evangeline Harcourt, Samuel Edwards as Billy Crocker, Nicole-Lily Baisden as Hope Harcourt, Haydn Oakley as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, and Carly Mercedes Dyer as Erm.
The ensemble features Jon Chew, Clive Hayward, Alistair So, Marc Akinfolarin, Simon Anthony, Georgie Ashford, Vivien Carter, Natalie Chua, Eamonn Cox, Jordan Crouch, Frances Dee, Charlene Ford, Selina Hamilton, Maddie Harper, Michael Lin, Robbie McMillan, Tom Partridge, Jack Wilcox, Alexandra Wright, George Beet, Gabrielle Cocca, Emily Ormiston, and Liam Wrate.
The London revival, starring Foster, was also filmed for upcoming U.K. screenings. The musical will be seen in 450 cinemas across the country November 28 and December 1. Tickets for the screenings are available by visiting AnythingGoesMusicalCinema.com.
The Barbican production has set design by Derek McLane, costumes by Jon Morrell, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound design by Jonathan Deans, and music supervision by Stephen Ridley.
Marshall also directed the aforementioned Broadway revival of Anything Goes, from Roundabout Theatre Company, which ended its run July 8, 2012, after more than 500 performances at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Marshall earned the Best Choreography Tony for her work on the production, which won the 2011 Best Musical Revival Tony and a Tony for star Foster.
The 1934 musical has songs by Porter and a libretto by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, who drew on the original depression-era script (by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse) for this version of the show, which debuted at the Vivian Beaumont in 1987 starring Tony winner Patti LuPone. That production won the Tony for Best Revival as well.
Set aboard a transatlantic ocean liner, the show features "You're the Top," "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," "It's De-Lovely," "I Get a Kick Out of You," and the toe-tapping title song, among others.
The play comes on the heels of a broader cultural conversation about Dahl's work and the prejudice that was embedded in many of his most beloved stories.
