A huge welcome to Solihull Theatre Company to our peripatetic competition as first-time participants. We\u2019re genuinely delighted to have you with us and very much hope to see you at the awards evening on 21st March. Right then \u2014 all aboard. I better step in it..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anything Goes remains one of musical theatre\u2019s most joyful pieces of escapism. Set aboard the S.S. American<\/em> as it sails from New York to London, it\u2019s packed with romance, mistaken identities, gangsters, posh Englishmen and sailors tap dancing across the deck \u2014 all wrapped up in the incomparable music and lyrics of Cole Porter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the opening bars, the orchestra, under the musical direction of Alexander Miranda Zezula, swept the audience straight into that golden age of Broadway glamour. The sound they produced was rich, confident and stylish throughout, and they never lost the swing and sparkle this score demands. The little sailor hats were a lovely touch too \u2014 playful, but entirely in keeping with the spirit of the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Director Andrew Johnson has clearly gone for scale with this production, and in a show like Anything Goes<\/em>, that is absolutely the right instinct. Huge ensemble numbers filled the stage with movement and life, and there was always something happening. At times the production perhaps tried just a fraction too hard technically, particularly with some of the lighting states, where a few performers weren\u2019t always caught quite as cleanly as they could have been. That said, this genuinely felt more like the sort of one-performance gremlin that inevitably happens in live theatre rather than any deeper issue. Nothing distracted from the enjoyment of the show, and I strongly suspect those little moments will already have been ironed out by the time other audiences see it \u2014 and they really should see it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The set and costumes were extremely good and played a huge part in creating the glamour and escapism the show relies upon. From the elegance of the passenger costumes to the crisp sailor uniforms, everything helped establish the period and gave the production a polished, cohesive feel. I loved those red dresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the centre of it all was Charley Turner as Reno Sweeney, and quite simply, Turner was the star of the evening. Reno is a huge role. She needs charisma, comic timing, effortless authority and the vocal power to drive some of the biggest numbers in musical theatre, and Charley delivered on every front. From the moment she stepped on stage, the production lifted. There was confidence and polish in abundance, but more importantly, there was personality. Charley understood exactly when to lean into the comedy and when to let the music do the work. The title number \u201cAnything Goes\u201d was outstanding \u2014 a proper showstopper with tremendous energy and control at the centre of some ambitious choreography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matt Brown gave a very likeable performance as Billy Crocker. Billy can sometimes feel overshadowed amidst all the larger comic characters, but Brown kept him grounded and sincere, which gave the story its heart. Vocally strong and easy to warm to, he handled the romantic lead role very well indeed. Well done Matt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opposite him, Meg White brought warmth and elegance to Hope Harcourt. Hope can occasionally feel a little underwritten in comparison to Reno, but Meg gave her genuine charm and sincerity, and the chemistry between the two leads worked nicely throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The comic engine room of the show belongs to Steve Hayes as Moonface Martin and Faye Hutt as Erma Latour, and both were clearly having enormous fun. Steve wisely resisted the temptation to overplay Moonface too much and instead found the character\u2019s lovably hopeless quality, which made the comedy land naturally. Faye was equally entertaining, bringing terrific comic energy and confidence whenever she appeared. Together, they created some of the evening\u2019s biggest laughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lloyd Scarsbrook clearly relished the wonderfully ridiculous Lord Evelyn Oakley, delivering the role with just the right amount of upper-class absurdity. His performance during \u201cThe Gypsy In Me\u201d was tremendous fun, with the Paso Doble-inspired choreography played with exactly the right balance of commitment and self-awareness. It became one of those moments where the audience could sense the cast enjoying themselves just as much as the people watching. I really enjoyed this performance Lloyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would also be unfair not to mention Helen Gibbs and David Steele, both of whom gave performances of real quality. Helen brought exactly the right amount of authority and poise to Evangeline Harcourt, while David impressed throughout as Elisha Whitney. In a production packed with big musical numbers and larger-than-life comedy, it can sometimes be easy for these supporting performances to slip under the radar, but both performers had genuine stage presence whenever they appeared. They helped anchor<\/em> the show beautifully and added depth and polish to the production as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In truth, that applies to the entire supporting cast. Everyone on stage contributed to the atmosphere and energy of the evening, constantly driving the show forward and keeping the pace alive. Productions like this only truly succeed when the whole company pulls together, and that absolutely happened here. The ensemble lifted the production at every opportunity and played a huge part in making the show the success that it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Special mention must go to choreographer Pauline Elliker because this was an exceptionally busy show physically. The choreography was ambitious, energetic and impressively rehearsed throughout. I particularly enjoyed the simple swaying movement during \u201cBon Voyage\u201d. It was one of those deceptively straightforward ideas that worked beautifully, giving the number shape, rhythm and a real sense of the ship moving out to sea. Sometimes the simplest choreography choices are the most effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tap routines also deserve enormous credit. Tap can so easily become messy or tentative in amateur productions, but that certainly wasn\u2019t the case here. Whenever it appeared, it was sharp, confident and full of energy, adding exactly the sense of spectacle the show needs. The ensemble worked incredibly hard all evening and sustained a remarkable level of commitment throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Backstage, stage manager Tom Wilson and the technical team kept an extremely complex production moving smoothly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Solihull Theatre Company delivered a hugely entertaining evening full of ambition, style and joy. More than anything else, though, the production had heart \u2014 and that\u2019s ultimately what audiences remember when they leave the theatre, that and the toe tapping numbers. A very enjoyable voyage indeed. Now where’s my boarding pass?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reviewed by – David T<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A huge welcome to Solihull Theatre Company to our peripatetic competition as first-time participants. We\u2019re genuinely delighted to have you with us and very much hope to see you at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-2027","category-solihull-theatre-company"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3092"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3095,"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3092\/revisions\/3095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bfame.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}