Upbeat and Classic – This Year’s Upperclassmen Musical Is Sure To Please!

                The tradition of an upperclassmen play is still going strong. This year’s choice of musical, Anything Goes, is an old-fashioned comedy that still resonates today. 

    The story takes place on a cruise ship called the S.S. “American”, sailing from New York to England and follows the twisting, turning story of the ship’s passengers. Among them are a debutante, an ex-evangelist night club singer, Chinese “converts”, a not-so-mean gangster, a businessman and his (stowaway) assistant. Billy Crocker, the stowaway, boards the ship in order to chase the affection of Hope Harcourt, the debutante. However, Hope is already engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, a wealthy Englishman, who Billy’s gal-pal Reno is quite attracted to. Meanwhile, Moonface Martin and his sidekick, Bonnie, are attempting to escape the law! This upbeat, happy story will leave the audience laughing and applauding.

    Mr. Mark Wright, our drama teacher and the musical’s director, describes Anything Goes as “an upbeat comedy.” He says that he picked this particular musical because last year’s musical, Sweeney Todd, was more dramatic and less comedic. Mr. Wright also wanted to do something a little more classic. “I like the jokes,” stated junior Marcus Bell, who plays Elisha J. Whitney, “even though it was made in the 1920’sCourtney Cunningham, who plays Virtue the Angel, said that her favorite part is the “love quadrilateral going on,” and she continued to say that the whole musical “fits together so well.”

    Many of the actors and actresses in Anything Goes are novices. Marcus Bell has taken 3 years of Drama class with Mr. Wright, but this will be his first main stage production. Jacob Nicholas (Sir Evelyn Oakleigh) has never acted before. Courtney Cunningham says that she “has been in drama before,” and said “I always wanted to do it, ever since I was a kid.”

    At the other end of the spectrum, a few of the actors have previous experience. Collin Ruth participated in last year’s production of Sweeney Todd. Katie Craig, another experience actor, “did ballet for 15 years” and also worked in jazz and musical theater. The cast of Anything Goes has as diverse a history as the characters they play.

    Anything Goes has a wide variety of characters – from Chinese “converts” and angels to a ship captain and an on-the-run outlaw. Katie Craig described her character (Reno Sweeney) as a “[dollface]”, stating “she’s really funny, she’s like crazy!” Marcus Bell described his role in the play as a “boss” .Courtney Cunningham mentions that her character, Virtue, is “flirty,” and she lets people know it.

    The musical will be performed this weekend! Tickets will be available soon, so listen to the announcements for updates and be sure to get your tickets for this year’s exciting, upbeat upperclassmen musical!