Insider staff
At the Insider, we have a lot of leeway. You might say when it comes to our story selection, just about anything goes.
So of course when we learned that for their spring production the Concord High School drama club would be performing the classic musical, Anything Goes, we had to share it with all of you.
And are you ever going to be glad we did. Because if you hadn’t already heard that the show would be happening this week, you could have missed it – and that’s something you definitely don’t want to do.
We caught a little bit of a run through last week and it made us want to go back and see it from start to finish. It’s a musical, so there’s lots of singing and dancing.
“I knew we had a lot of talented dancers and it was time to do a classic,” said director Clint Klose.
It’s also quite humorous and the acting abilities of the large cast makes you forget that this is a high school drama club performance. But it’s not surprising since the CHS drama club did take top billing at the state drama festival with its performance of My Name is Asher Lev.
Anything Goes is a love story aboard a boat and yes, there will be an actual boat on the Christa McAuliffe Auditorium stage. Not a real boat that you could put in the water, but one that will pass as one for the three-night performance.
You see, Billy Crocker is in love with Hope Harcourt. But Harcourt is engaged to marry Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. And somehow, all of them are aboard the ocean liner, along with Reno Sweeney, an evangelist turned nightclub singer who also has eyes for Crocker, the gangster Moonface Martin and Bishop Henry T. Dobson.
“It’s a very comical love story,” Klose said.
Crocker is supposed to get off the boat to make some big Wall Street deal for his boss, a heavy drinker named Elisha J. Whitney, but once he realizes Harcourt is on board, he must stay and tell her how he feels.
What happens next? Guess you’ll just have to pick up a ticket to find out.
“It’s a standard in musical theater,” Klose said.
Between dancers and actors/actresses, there’s 36 cast members. Add in the stage crew and a pit of 20-plus musicians, there’s more than 60 people involved with pulling off the three performances.
“That’s big,” Klose said. “We usually cast about 25.”
It’s a two-act play, so expect to be captivated, laughing and quietly singing along (if you know the words) for about two hours.
“There’s a lot of songs people will know,” Klose said.
Anything Goes will be performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the high school. Tickets are $12 for adults, and $10 for students and seniors. They’re available at the door or by going to the CHS music office.
“We felt three shows was the right amount for us,” Klose said. “And it gives us three opportunities to showcase our work.”
