For the second show of our seven-show Broadway extravaganza, my parents and I saw a Wednesday matinee of Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. I was so excited – I’ve been a fan of Sutton Foster’s for a long time, but this was my first time seeing her live. And who couldn’t be thrilled to see a legend like Joel Grey?! I think it’s safe to say that my excitement was appropriate for the situation.
Wednesday matinees on Broadway are, as far as I can tell, a very specific crowd. There were a lot of elderly folks there enjoying some mid-week theater fun. I must say that I’m secretly looking forward to when I get to be an old matinee lady. I’m probably as close to it as any 25-year-old can get.
Our seats for Anything Goes were in the second-to-last row of the mezzanine, right next to a group of middle-schoolers on a field trip. At first I was nervous that they would talk the whole show, but they really didn’t. At one point the boys behind me were chatting, and I shot them a look, and one of the boys shushed his friends, but that was it. Before the show, I overheard the group of middle school boys behind me discussing what they thought the show would be like, and I could tell that they were worried it would be boring. However, I chuckled when one of them pointed out the picture of Sutton Foster in a sexy sailor outfit on the cover of the Playbill, and said “well, if the whole show’s like this, I’ll be okay with that.” Ah, the priorities of 13-year-old boys. But, hey, they paid attention and they enjoyed the show. They, like myself, were in awe at the end of the first act, during the incredible (and very long!) tap number, “Anything Goes.” If I ever meet Sutton Foster, remind me to ask her how in the world she can belt those notes after tap dancing that long! My dad in particular was absolutely floored by her performance. I told him she was awesome. I told him she had just won the Astaire Award for best female dancer this year. I told him she just got her fifth Tony nomination. I guess he just had to see it to believe it. I’m pretty sure he’s ready to sign up for a fan club.
That’s not to say that the rest of the cast wasn’t also amazing – they certainly were! It was such a joy for me to see Joel Grey live, and I thought the rest of the cast was spot-on in both serious and comic moments. It was one of the most visually spectacular shows I’ve ever seen. Anything Goes, which is from the 1930s, is a very traditional book musical, and I loved that. Sure, there are shows that decidedly break with tradition which I enjoy very much, but there’s just something intangibly awesome about a well-executed old-school musical. I can’t get over it.
Even though the armrests of the seats at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre were very pointy and kept poking into my legs, I would recommend this show to absolutely everybody. I loved it, my parents loved it, the middle school boys loved it, and you’ll love it.
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