The Drama Club is at it again. Last year their production of  “Legally Blonde” was well received.  This year they are performing “Anything Goes,” a musical comedy written and scored by Cole Porter that first debuted  in 1934. “Anything Goes” is the story of romantic entanglements and  wild antics aboard a transatlantic ocean liner. If you are not a big fan of musicals you may at least remember its eponymous song “Anything Goes,” which was also featured in the opening of the movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” back in 1984.BR0-001

The cast is very excited about performing and thinks that people are going to really enjoy their performance. Sean O’Brien (Class of 2014), plays Billy Crocker, the male lead. He describes him as “a pretty confident guy and a hopeless romantic who will stop at nothing to get what he wants,” in this case Hope Harcourt, one the two female leads. When asked if people are going to like the play he replied,“Oh yeah, people are going to love it.”

Alessandra Vento (Class of 2015), plays Hope Harcourt and seems very pumped to play her.  In the story Hope is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (a stuffy English aristocrat played by Tim McDonnell), but is really in love with Billy. “Everyone is really talented. The audience is going to love it,” said Vento.

Leighann Healy (Class of 2014) plays Reno Sweeney, the other female lead. She is particularly excited about performing because she says that she has been waiting all of high school for her chance to play such a important role like Reno. Healy describes her character as a “former evangelist turned night club singer with a lot of different levels. She can go from being one of the guys to being flirty and seductive.”

When asked if people will like the musical Riley Morrison (Class of 2016) replied, “In my opinion it is better and funnier than ‘Legally Blonde,’ which is saying something, because that was great.” Morrison plays Moonface Martin, an almost famous gangster disguised as a minister who has some really funny lines, as does Abigail Budwey who plays Bonnie, his accomplice.

From the very little of the musical I have seen performed during rehearsals, most of the acting is quite good, most notably Sean O’Brien’s Billy Crocker, and Riley Morrison’s Moonface Martin. So far the singing has been stunning, particularly from Leighann Healy and Sean CT0-101O’Brien. The Drama Club also has a number of talented dancers, but if you don’t like tap dancing this musical probably isn’t for you. I have only sampled a small part of the finished product, but if past performances are any indication the Drama Club will once again shine bright.

Full Disclosure: Ian McLeod, the author of this article, plays in the pit band for Drama Club musicals and has many friends in the Drama Club.