Anything Goes

In 1987, Cole Porter's 1934 Broadway musical Anything Goes was revamped for a Broadway revival, the changes including a re-jiggered song list that dumped some lesser numbers and interpolated better-known tunes from other Porter works, including "Easy to Love," "Friendship," and "It's De-Lovely," with the whole score given new orchestrations by Michael Gibson. The Broadway revival, starring Patti LuPone as evangelist-turned-nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, was a big hit, and it was restaged in London in 1989 with Elaine Paige; both productions produced cast albums. This British studio cast recording, following half a dozen years later, is also based on the 1987 revision, with only minor changes. "I Want to Row with the Crew," a Porter college song that had been interpolated, has been dropped, and instrumental passages have been added or extended (e.g., a full-length "Overture" instead of the brief "Prelude") to the extent that the disc runs about eight minutes longer than the cast albums. The real selling point for this version, then, must be the cast. Gregg Edelman, a Broadway star who was a replacement in the London revival, is an excellent choice for the male lead, Billy Crocker, singing in a lower tenor than some of his predecessors, for a more virile, less comic effect. Louise Gold, as Reno Sweeney, harks back to the role's creator, Ethel Merman, giving an enthusiastic performance. Since Matt Zimmerman, as Moonface Martin, aka Public Enemy Number 13, is equally hammy, their duet on "Friendship" is a raucous highlight. The mostly British cast doesn't have nearly as much trouble with their American accents as the 1989 London revival cast did, although their native voices sneak in here and there, for instance in "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," when the entire company cheerfully pronounces "been" like "bean" instead of like "bin," as Americans would. As far as the 1987 version of Anything Goes, the Broadway revival cast album is still the top, but this one isn't bad. ~ William Ruhlmann|