The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, revised considerably by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.
Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and Public Enemy Number 13, "Moonface" Martin, aid Billy in his quest to win Hope.
[2] The original idea for a musical set on board an ocean liner came from producer Vinton Freedley, who was living on a boat, having left the US to avoid his creditors.
Billy Crocker, a young Wall Street broker, has fallen in love with a beautiful girl he met at a party and spent the evening in a taxi.
Moon tries to invent some indecent explanation for the situation, but Evelyn insists that he would be quite pleased by any rumor depicting him as a passionate lover, especially if Hope heard it.
The crew discover that Billy is not a sailor, and Moon and Reno create a new disguise for him from a stolen pair of trousers, a jacket taken from a drunken passenger, and hair cut from Mrs. Harcourt's Pomeranian and made into a beard.
The passengers confess their sins to the "Reverend", and Lord Evelyn admits to a one-night stand with a young Chinese woman, Plum Blossom.
Billy then reveals to Reno he's fallen in love with someone else and she berates him, believing he led her on before sadly reaffirming her feelings for him after he leaves ("I Get A Kick Out Of You - Reprise").
She is joined by her wealthy English fiancé Lord Evelyn Oakleigh and her mother Evangeline, who has set her daughter up to be married in order to solve their family's recent financial struggles.
Eli drunkenly sings about his excitement for the trip, reminisces on his days in Yale, and unsuccessfully invites Hope's mom Evangeline to spend the night with him ("The Crew Song").
The next morning a quartet of sailors sing about the joy of seeing women as they come ashore ("There'll Always Be a Lady Fair") while Erma steals another seaman's clothes to disguise Billy from the crew and his boss.
The captain then releases Billy to satisfy the celebrity crazed passengers, and he basks in the fame of being a gangster whilst Moonface blows his cover to do the same.
Erma visits them to deliver a letter from Hope where she confesses her feelings for Billy, at which point they both — on separate parts of the ship — express their love ("All Through The Night").
The ruse is almost ruined when Moonface accepts Eli's bribe to leave, but Hope intervenes by saying the only way for Evelyn to right his wrong is if he offers her to Plum Blossom's relative.
Evangeline prepares to leave Eli immediately but before she can do so, a wire comes in saying that the stock that wasn't sold has gone through the roof making him even richer than he imagined.
[18] Charles B. Cochran, a British theatrical manager, had bought the London performance rights during the show's Boston run,[5] and he produced it at the West End's Palace Theatre.
It was directed by Lawrence Kasha with a cast that included Hal Linden as Billy Crocker, Kenneth Mars as Sir Evelyn, and Eileen Rodgers as Reno Sweeney.
This revision was also the first stage version of Anything Goes to incorporate several songs from other Porter shows: "Take Me Back to Manhattan" from The New Yorkers, 1930, "It's De-Lovely" from Red, Hot and Blue, 1934, "Friendship" from Du Barry Was a Lady, 1939, and "Let's Misbehave" from Paris, 1928.
The original cast also starred Howard McGillin as Billy Crocker[22] (who was replaced later in the show's run by John Barrowman),[23] Bernard Cribbins as Moonface, and Kathryn Evans as Erma.
This production was directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall with musical supervision by Rob Fisher, dance arrangements by David Chase, and designs by Derek McLane, Martin Pakledinaz, and Peter Kaczorowski.
The show's opening night cast featured Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney, Joel Grey as Moonface Martin, Laura Osnes as Hope Harcourt, Jessica Walter as Evangeline Harcourt, Colin Donnell as Billy Crocker, Adam Godley as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, John McMartin as Elisha Whitney, Jessica Stone as Erma,[26] Robert Creighton as Purser, Andrew Cao as Luke, Raymond J. Lee as John, and Walter Charles as the Captain.
[40] Other cast-members included Fred Applegate as Moonface Martin, Erich Bergen as Billy Crocker, Jeff Brooks as Purser, Joyce Chittick as Erma, Alex Finke as Hope Harcourt, Dennis Kelly as Elisha Whitney, Vincent Rodriguez III as Luke, Marcus Shane as John, Sandra Shipley as Mrs. Evangeline Harcourt, Edward Staudenmayer as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, and Chuck Wagner as the Captain.
An Australian revival was announced in September 2014 with the cast led by Caroline O'Connor as Reno Sweeney and featuring Todd McKenney, Alex Rathgeber, Claire Lyon, Wayne Scott Kermond, and Alan Jones.
A revival directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, based on the 2011 Broadway production, opened for a limited season at the Barbican Theatre in London on August 4, 2021.
[43][44] Originally set to star Megan Mullally until she withdrew due to injury, Sutton Foster took over as Reno Sweeney in her London theatre debut.
The new cast featured Kerry Ellis as Reno Sweeney, Denis Lawson as Moonface Martin, Simon Callow as Eli Whitney, and Bonnie Langford as Mrs. Harcourt.
The production, which ran in May to June 4, 2016, featured the Derek McLane sets and Martin Pakledinaz costumes that were created for the 2011 Broadway revival, which was produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company.
It starred Jeanna de Waal as Reno, Jay Armstrong Johnson as Billy, Kevin Chamberlin as Martin, George Abud as Lord Evelyn, Kimberly Immanuel as Hope, Adrianna Hicks as Erma, Ann Harada as Evangeline, Lara Teeter as Elisha, and Eric Jordan Young as the Captain.
[57][58] In 1954, Ethel Merman, at the age of forty-six, reprised her role as Reno in a specially adapted live television version of the musical, co-starring Frank Sinatra as the hero, now renamed Harry Dane; Merman's good friend Bert Lahr (who had co-starred with her on Broadway in DuBarry Was a Lady) as Moonface Martin; and Sheree North.
[61] In 1962, a Norwegian language television movie adaptation starring Per Asplin and Anita Thallaug aired as part of the NRK series Lommeoperetten [no].