Anything Goes, book by P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay & Russell Crouse, new book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman, with lovely song after lovely song by Cole Porter, gives us romantic folderol on an ocean liner among the (mostly) upper clahsses.
The cast is merely superb: a radiant Sutton Foster, the delightful, fey, John McMartin; a very comic Joel Gray (he and Foster are a great Vaudeville team), brash-voiced Jessica Stone as comic relief, romantic leads Colin Donnell and Laura Osnes who look great and sing nicely, and a hilarious British farceur, a great entertainer new to American audiences, Adam Godley as a Count with an elastic body.
The super dancing (created by director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall), which takes various genre-turns, includes graceful ballroom and very masculine tap a la Gene Kelly, really cooks as they dazzle us with footwork.
The design (set by Derek McLane, stylish costumes by Martin Pakeldinaz) is clean and graceful, and lighting by Peter Kaczorowski enhances everything. It's an old-fashioned musical that is more entertaining than most of the new-fashioned ones.
