Anything Goes - Original Production
The background to the first production of "Anything Goes" gives us a fascinating insight into America during this period.
The show was conceived of and produced in 1934.
Prohibition had only been ended in 1933 and the 1929 Wall Street Crash was still fresh in public memory.
Indeed the depression which followed was still very much a reality.
Bootlegging during prohibition had provided previously unheard of opportunities for organised crime.
On the back of this increased power the thirties witnessed a crime wave unparalleled in modern history and the FBI released a list of "America's Most Wanted".
John Dillinger was notoriously Public Enemy Number One for over a year until the infamous "woman in a red dress" took $5000 from the FBI to lead him to his death.
It was in this context that the producer, Vinton Freedley was hiding out from his creditors onboard a fishing ship in the Gulf of Panama.
Necessity being the mother of invention, he was "inspired" to come up with a show involving a stowaway and a shipwreck.
Knowing that he would have to be pretty sure of a return on his money, he set about assembling the "dream team" of, Cole Porter, P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Ethel Merman.
Having secured their services, work began immediately on fleshing out the story and by early September, Freedley had hired a cast which were about to start rehearsals on "Hard To Get", as the musical was now entitled.
The characters included two stockbrokers, a gangster (and moll), a former evangelist turned nightclub singer (based on Aimee Semple McPherson and Texas Guinan) and a debutante replete with upper-class English fiancé and gold-digging mother in tow. Unfortunately, for the cast and production team already at work, the real-life shipwreck of the Morro Castle made the possibility of a musical farce about a shipwreck unlikely. A small steamer named Morro Castle was travelling from Cuba to New York and carried holiday-makers. The disaster lost 137 lives on September 8th, 1934.
Producer - Vinton Freedley
Vinton Freedley originated the idea and assembled the "dream team" of, Cole Porter, P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Ethel Merman. Freedley had already worked with Bolton and Wodehouse on a regular basis, where they supplied the book for George and Ira Gershwin's shows. And he had famously "discovered" Ethel Merman at the Brooklyn Paramount where she was pursuing a successful career as a nightclub singer. He introduced her to George Gershwin who signed her up for "Girl Crazy" and she never looked back. Bolton and Wodehouse wrote the book for the original version of Anything Goes (then "Hard To Get") which never saw the light of day. After the Morro Castle shipwreck he enlisted Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse to completely revise the libretto.
First performance - 21st November, 1934 (420 performances) Alvin Theatre and 44th Street Theatre, New York.
Revived
- 1962 New York
- 1987 Lincoln Centre Theatre (800 performances)
Composer and Lyricist - Cole Porter
Cole Porter was one of the most important songwriters of the 20th Century.
"Anything Goes" was his first major hit broadway show, although he had already had some hit songs and had written shows without much success. It included such memorable songs as; "I Get A Kick Out Of You", "Blow, Gabriel Blow", "You're the Top" and "Anything Goes", all of which would go on to be for ever associated with the name of Ethel Merman.
More about
Cole Porter
Star - Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman started her career as a nightclub singer. Born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann in Queens, New York she was a legendary singer/actress/comedienne of stage and screen. One of the most popular and best-known actresses of the twentieth century, Ethel made her stage debut in the 1930 production of "Girl Crazy".
More about
Ethel Merman
Librettist - P.G. Wodehouse
Librettist - Guy Bolton
Guy Bolton (book) and P.G. Wodehouse (lyrics) are amongst the most important writers in the history of the musical. Their early collaboration with Jerome Kern on the Princess Theatre Shows is regarded as foundational to American musical comedy. This was to be Wodehouse's final musical. In the same year as "Anything Goes" hit the stage, Jeeves and Wooster made their first appearance in print.
More about
Guy Bolton
P.G. Wodehouse
Director & Librettist -Howard Lindsay
Librettist - Russell Crouse
This partnership was hastily brought together to revise the book for the new version of the show following the S.S. Morro Castle disaster. Howard Lindsay was the director of the production and he brought in Russell Crouse, at that time a public relations agent and part-time librettist to help with the work. This partnership, though, was to go on to achieve great success in subsequent productions, such as "Red, Hot and Blue", "Call Me Madam", and "The Sound Of Music".
