Synopsis
The Characters
The Songs
Cole Porter
Production History

SYNOPSIS
Ocean liner: The early twentieth century, before the advent of much commercial air travel, was the golden age of the long distance ocean voyage. Unlike today's cruise ships, which are essentially classless, they had classes, usually three, which were strictly segregated physically and varied greatly in services. First class was for the social elite. Third class was mostly for immigrants. This is reflected in Anything Goes by the difference between the quarters for Sir Evelyn and for the Chinese "converts".

Evangelist: The term "evangelist" applies to anyone who tries to bring people to a given religion, but today it usually applies to "revivalists" of the nineteenth century, the preachers who traveled from town to town holding prayer meetings in tents or large churches, and today on television. Examples are Billy Graham, Oral Roberts and, early last century, Aimee Semple McPherson, (1890-1944). While today's services are relatively quiet, the earliest evangelists were dramatic and bombastic and their sermons were full of fire and brimstone. McPherson, the inspiration for Reno Sweeney, who campaigned against evolution all her life, started by holding revival meetings which gradually grew in size. One in San Diego drew 30,000. Eventually she settled in Los Angeles and founded the Angelus Temple which seated over 5,000 and was full to capacity for three services a day, seven days a week. Taking full advantage of the entertainment milieu of nearby Hollywood it had a stage on which were performed productions complete with sets and special effects. Later in life and during the Depression, she concentrated more on charitable work such as soup kitchens.

Violin case: A cliché of the times was that gangsters carried their weapons in violin cases. However, in the original version a saxophone case was used.

Public Enemy Number One: When J. Edgar Hoover became the head in the 1920s of what would become the FBI, he coined this phrase to designate the worst of wanted criminals. Most of those who won this honor ended up being shot. Among the most notorious were "Pretty Boy" Floyd and "Baby Face" Nelson.

Forty-six states: In 1934 Alaska and Hawaii had not yet been admitted to the Union but Mrs. Harcourt is still wrong. There were then forty-eight states.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950): The famous Irish playwright was 78 in 1934 and sported a full beard. His Pygmalion, inspired by the Greek myth, was the source for Broadway's My Fair Lady. The fact that the haughty, but ignorant, Mrs. Harcourt takes Billy for him in Act II was a bitterly satiric attack on the status obsessed elite of the time which the audience was sure to recognize.

Chinchilean: This is a made-up word making an adjective of the fur Chinchilla used for Mrs. Harcourt's coat and hence Billy's beard..

Trap shooting: This is a shotgun competition in which clay pidgins, shot into the air, are used as targets instead of live ones. The latter were replaced by the clay ones in the 1889s.

THE CHARACTERS
Reno Sweeney had been an Evangelist of the Aimee Semple McPherson breed who decided to become a night club singer and performs with a group of sixteen young women called her Angels. She is sexy and rather loud and brassy but fundamentally a good person who, for some reason, is attracted to the straight-laced and clueless Sir Evelyn - an attraction of opposites. The first scene of the original 1934 production is set in her New York nightclub but was moved to the ship in later productions. The original Reno was Ethel Merman, the singer with the powerful belting delivery of her songs and lines. In the time when Broadway voices were not artificially amplified she was particularly effective.

Billy Crocker is a smart business man who, although the financier does not realize this, controls Whitney's financial empire and Whitney himself. He is fun-loving and ingenious and revels in his various disguises. He is hopelessly in love with Hope with whom he spent one memorable night in a taxi driving around and around Central Park, but he has not seen her since. He was played in the original production by William Caxton for whom the role was written. The Billy in 1962 was Hal Linden who is familiar to today's television audiences for his many roles in shows such as Barney Miller, The Golden Girls and Will and Grace.

Moonface Martin (Dr. Moon) is a second rate gangster who is proud of his designation as "Public Enemy Thirteen". Wily and clever, he knows how to get what he wants but is completely uneducated and knows nothing of ordinary society, history, geography, et cetera. He is also ignorant of everything ecclesiastical which makes his disguise as the minister Dr. Moon particularly unfortunate but leads to many comic misunderstandings. He was played by Victor Moore, the comedian, writer, director and actor with roles in 50 films and 21 Broadway shows to his credit. He, Merman and Caxton had been hired to play their roles even before the first 1934 version had even been written

Hope Harcourt is a beautiful New York debutante who, for some reason is completely under her mother's thumb and is prepared to marry the stuffy Sir Evelyn even though she is in love with Billy.

Bonnie Latour is the sidekick of Moonface Martin and "Snake Eyes" Johnson who never appears but whose passport is used by Billy.

Sir Evelyn Oakleigh is a member of the British nobility, although there are hints that his pedigree is a bit shaky. He is prudish and straight laced and utterly clueless about all things American, but he is eager to learn, especially after he meets Reno. One of the librettists, P.G. Wodehouse, is most famous for his short stories about the butler Jeeves whose boss, Bertie Wooster, is a literary cousin to Sir Evelyn.

Mrs. Harcourt is obsessed with wealth and is a social climber who is less interested in Hope's happiness than she is in having a British heiress as as daughter.

Elisha J. Whitney is extremely nearsighted and is boozy and lecherous. Without Billy he would never be successful. Although he is very wealthy, his importance is all on the surface; he is the perfect prey for Mrs. Harcourt,

The Bishop is a missionary to China and is visiting England for a conference. He is accompanied by two Chinese "converts', Ching and Ling, who are inveterate gamblers in spite of finding religion.

THE SONGS
YOU'RE THE TOP: You're the Top is the blockbuster song from Anything Goes. It was written in Paris during a supper with a female friend at which she and Cole took turns coming up with superlatives that rhymed. Cole thought of it as "just a trick" but after the 1934 version opened, it soon swept New York becoming a craze, with people attempting their own versions of the lyrics, some not suitable for polite society. It is not easy; Porter's complicated rhyming and metrical scheme are hard to imitate. Try it. Some of the items cited may be unfamiliar to some and are explained below. Keep in mind they are all examples of superlatives.

Coliseum (also spelled Colloseum): This refers to the Roman Coliseum, one of the grandest of the remaining ancient sites. The name has been applied to sports and entertainment venues all over the world.

Louvre Museum: One of the largest and most comprehensive museums in the world, it is housed in Paris in one of the former palaces of the French kings.

Symphony by Strauss: Some people complain that "Strauss" never wrote any symphonies. While it is true that neither Johann Strauss, father nor son, wrote a symphony, the German Richard Strauss wrote several.

Bendel bonnet: Henri Bendel, who started as a milliner, established a women's clothing and specialty store in New York in 1895 and it soon became a fashion mecca for the social elite. Recently they decided to stop selling clothing and concentrate on accessories so the "Bendel bonnet" is no more.

Shakespeare sonnet: Arguably the greatest writer in the history of English literature, Shakespeare is best known for his plays but he also wrote much poetry including 145 sonnets, most of then of love. Two of the best known are those that start: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" and "Let me to the marriage of true minds admit impediments".

Nile: The longest river in the world.

Tower of Pisa: Originally straight, this famed 12th century landmark in Pisa, Italy, soon started to list because it was built on unstable ground. It reached an angle of 5.5 degrees from vertical. Recent stabilization work reduced this to 3.99 degrees and they now think it will remain standing for 300 more years.

Mona Lisa: The portrait by Leonard DaVinci of the woman with the enigmatic smile. Now in the Louvre Museum (above).

Arrow collar: In the age when most men's shirts had detachable collars, the Arrow brand was one of the best. It was advertised by a series of handsome male models who posed as "The Arrow Collar Man" who in the 1920s received more fan mail than even the most famous of Hollywood actors. Songs and poems and even a Broadway play were written about him.

Fred Astaire: One of the most famous film dancers and actors whose pictures still appear regularly on television. He started his career as a school boy dancing in vaudeville with his sister Adele as his partner, but his most famous partnership was with Ginger Rogers.

Whistler's mama: Officially titled Ärrangement in Black and Gray: The Artist's Mother, this portrait is familiarly known as Whistler's Mother.

Camembert: A soft and strong smelling cheese from French Normandy.

Milton Berle was the first major star of American television. As host of NBC's Texaco Star Theatre he was known to millions as "Uncle Miltie" and Mr. Television. A comedian and actor, he was an Emmy Award winner.

FRIENDSHIP: This song may be best known today because it was adapted for Lucy and Ethel to sing in the still to be seen hit TV comedy I Love Lucy.

I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU was Porter's favorite song from the show. He called it "a paean to romantic love".

ANYTHING GOES: During the frenetic rehearsals, Gaxton was asked to suggest a title. He had no ideas but said something to the effect "at this point anything goes". That was it! Porter rushed home to created the title song.

BLOW, GABRIEL, BLOW: This is an example of the type of music used at the churches of evangelists, designed to inspire confession and conversion among the listeners.

BE LIKE THE BLUEBIRD starts "There's and old Australian bush song that Melba used to sing." The bush is rural Australian. Nelly Melba was a celebrated Australian opera singer; Melba toast and Peach Melba were name for her.

COLE PORTER
Calliope: Just as a pipe organ passes air through pipes to produce sound, a calliope blows steam through whistles of various sizes to produce notes. It is very loud. First patented in 1855, it is still used by river boats and circuses where it is usually mounted on wagons as shown on the left.

Age six: References to Cole's age are uncertain. His mother changed his birth year from 1891 to 1893 to make him seem younger, and thus more precocious, than he actually was. This continued later. When he went to Worcester Academy he registered as 12 but was really 14. Three of his passports had three different ages.

Little Lord Fauntleroy is the hero of the 1866 book by Frances Hodson Burnett who also wrote The Secret Garden. The pen-and-ink illustrations of the boy's clothing created a fad among American children (or at least among their mothers) of the time. The first description of the boy in the book reads: "... a graceful childish figure in a black velvet suit, with a lace collar ..."

Silent films: Before the days of talking picture, the silent films were accompanied throughout by a pianist who used appropriate music to complement and enhance the action on the screen.

Hagenbeck and Wallace Circus: This was formed in 1907and soon became the second largest in the country behind that of Barnum and Bailey. The original Wallace Circus was formed in 1884 by Peru, Indiana animal trainer and Peru remained its headquarters for its entire life. This would have had a great impact on such a small community. Two of its famous performers were Joe Skelton, Red Skelton's father and Emmett Kelly, possibly the most famous clown of all times.

Wild Man of Borneo, Fat Lady: One of the features of earlier circuses was the Freak Show which features a variety of "abnormal" people, some genuine and some faked which were displayed in special pavilions so that people, for a small fee, could enter and stare at them. They also included sword-swallowers, tattooed men and women, Siamese twins, et cetera. The original "Wild Men of Borneo" were two "little people", each 40 inches tall but very strong. The story, probably concocted was that they had been captured on the island of Borneo.

Whiffenpoofs The Yale Whiffenpoofs is the oldest collegiate a cappella group in the United States, established in 1909. Best known for "The Whiffenpoof Song", based on a tune written by Tod Galloway (Amherst 1895) and adapted with lyrics by Meade Minnigerode (Yale 1910), the group comprises college senior men who compete in the spring of their junior year for 14 spots.

To the tables down at Mory's To the place where Louis dwells To the dear old Temple Bar we love so well Sing the Whiffenpoofs assembled With their glasses raised on high And the magic of their singing casts its spell. Yes, the magic of their singing Of the songs we love so well "Shall I Wasting," and "Mavourneen,"     and the rest We will serenade our Louis while life and     voice shall last. Then we'll pass and be forgotten with the rest.

We're poor little lambs who have lost our way     Baa! Baa! Baa! We're little black sheep who have gone astray     Baa! Baa! Baa! Gentleman songsters off on a spree Damned from here to eternity God have mercy on such as we     Baa! Baa! Baa!

The French Foreign Legion was founded in 1831 so that non-Frenchmen could serve in the French cause. It has fought in almost all wars since including both World Wars and, most recently the Gulf War. It consists of almost 8,000 men from all countries, including some from France. If Cole Porter had really want to fight in World War I before the United States entered it, this would have been the way to do it.

Elsa Maxwell: Known as the "hostess with the mostest she was America's top party-giver at the time. She was born in rural Iowa and left school at 14 but was able to meet famous people and move into their social circles. She loved costume parties and invented a number of party amusements, in particular the scavenger hunt.

Lido: A long narrow island south of Venice with sandy beaches and grand hotels. Elsa Maxwell is sometimes credited with putting it the map for the beautiful people.

Acquaintances: These included figures as diverse as Elsa Maxwell, Bernard Berenson, Edith Wharton, Irving Berlin, Nancy Mitford, Lord Carnarvon (the Egyptologist), Artur Rubenstein, Monty Woolley, Noel Coward, Greta Garbo, Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Averall Harriman, Noël Coward, Fritz Kreisler, Moss Hart and Amelia Earhart as well as various dukes, princesses and other royalty.

TV set: Television in private homes was relatively new at the time and was just in black and white.

Stella Dallas: This was an early soap opera, one of most popular of the time (1937-1955) "the true-to-life story of mother love and sacrifice". It was based on an earlier movie with Barbara Stanwyck.

PRODUCTION HISTORY
Revised: Before the Xerox and other modern methods of duplication extra orchestral scores had to be copied by hand. Thus it was usual to make only one or at most two copies of the full score and the individual parts. When it was time to revive a piece these had often been lost so everything had to be reorchestrated. Carbon paper could be used for material which could be typed. The mimeograph wasn't in general use until the 1940s.

U.S.S. Morro Castle: This was a luxury cruise ship (as compared to the cross Atlantic ocean liner described above); it traveled only between Havana, Cuba and New York. On the previous voyage their had been a small fire and rumors of sabotage began. The disastrous one killed 100 - 250 (depending on the source) passengers and crew. It was eight miles off of the New Jersey coast when it burst into flame. Some bodies were washed up on shore later. The burnt out hulk, shown on the left, was washed up on the beach at Asbury Park and became a tourist attraction until it was destroyed. The horror of this event made it impossible to depict a shipboard fire in the proposed musical.

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Revised August 2009
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