REVIEW: Anything Goes at the Derngate

Step aboard if you want to see if love can conquer all as Anything Goes sets sail from America to England.
Anything Goes at the DerngateAnything Goes at the Derngate
Anything Goes at the Derngate

During your adventure on the high seas, it won’t all be plain sailing as the story of Billy Crocker and his quest for love plays out on board the luxurious transatlantic liner.

Billy has fallen for debutante heiress Hope Harcourt, but she is engaged to an English aristocrat and is all set to marry her beau.

But Billy has other ideas and stows himself away aboard the S. S. American, desperately trying anything he can to win her heart and stop her walking down the aisle with someone else.

Aided by a string of eccentric passengers on board the ship, the hapless but charming Billy does everything in his power to win her heart before they reach Southampton so they can sail off into the sunset happily ever after.

Without knowing the story or many of the songs behind Anything Goes, this was a joy to watch as the heartwarming tale unfolds on stage.

Packed full of energy, fun and some cheeky slapstick comedy, it will make you smile, laugh and maybe even want to take up tap dancing.

The cast was packed full of talent, with strong voices ranging from the main characters all the way through to those in the chorus.

A number of scenes were of particular note, including Billy (Matt Rawle) and Hope (Zoe Rainey) singing It’s De-Lovely amidst a sea of swimmers.

While it was vaguely hypnotic, it was beautiful to watch and quite mesmerising.

The title song Anything Goes performed at the end of act one with Reno Sweeney (Debbie Kurup) and the chorus was also superb, a rousing rendition with the tap dancing rippling across the stage as more and more of the cast got involved to finish the first half on a high.

Despite being a stong cast, Kurup really stood out as Reno, not only for her vivaciousness on stage but also her voice and cheekiness when required.

Shaun Williamson, known to many as Barry from Eastenders, was another hit as Moonface Martin, the gangster who earned the title of public enemy no 13 and formed an unlikely alliance with Billy to win Hope’s heart.

This show, running at the Derngate in Northampton until Saturday, May 16, is definitely worth a look and will give you nearly three hours of nautical fun and frolics - it certainly brightened up any Monday night blues we had before the show!

Call the box office on 01604 624811 or visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk for more details.

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