Contact
For all enquiries contact Carole King:
110 Eskdale Avenue
Chesham
Bucks
HP5 3BD
07941 783410
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Anything Goes
Cast
REVIEW The really brilliant thing about youth drama groups is that nothing, absolutely nothing, seems to daunt them! The fact that for this production of the fabulously frivolous Cole Porter classic ‘Anything Goes’, Pedal Performing Arts were short of about a dozen lads to play vicars, sailors, policemen etc didn’t really matter. In the end all that counts is that the audience and cast alike had a great time and left Holtspur’s Beacon Theatre feeling elated and entertained. Cole Porter’s wonderful songs are a real gift to performers and directors alike and the Pedal Production team of Carole King and Sarah Pinkney did a great job with the music and choreography particularly in the big chorus numbers ‘Anything Goes’ and ‘Blow Gabriel Blow’. Emily North shone as the sexy Reno Sweeney, ably supported by her five equally sexy ‘Angels’. Alistair Perman, Natasha Graul and Lauren Crocker all performed admirably and Leo Stockil as the hapless Billy Crocker did a good acting job and coped well in the main with his difficult songs. However, the real star of the show was Thomas Hodge as the machine gun-toting gangster ‘Moonface Martin’ - great comic timing, wonderful facial acting and, surprise – a big bloke who can dance! ‘Friendship’ with Reno was sensational. After the stunning success of their last production ’Les Miserables’, Pedal were always going to find that a hard act to follow, but ‘Anything Goes’ was great fun and with a few more guys and a little more attention to costume detail this very good production would have been quite superb! With music, lighting and sound of the highest standard Pedal Performing Arts continue to offer their students and audiences alike shows of the highest quality and I look forward to their Autumn show, Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’. This version of ‘Anything Goes’ was a joyous celebration of ‘fluffy’ musical theatre and was a credit to the young cast and production team. Paul Woodstock |
The S.S. American, sailing from New York to England, carries an unusual group of passengers. Included amongst them are a gangster (Moonface Martin), a wealthy debutante and her mother (Hope and Evangeline Harcourt), a nightclub singer (Reno Sweeny), and a wealthy New York businessman and his stowaway assistant (Elisha Witney and Billy Crocker). It turns out that Hope is Billy's long-lost love. Unfortunately, she is now engaged to a wealthy Englishman, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. After a series of comedic happenings, Billy manages to win back Hope. Meanwhile, Billy's friend, Reno, manages to seduce and win Lord Evelyn. All this happens while Moonface Martin attempts to escape the law and Hope's mother strives to maintain her social status.