Anything Goes

Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse
(revised by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse)

Set on-board the S.S American - a luxury liner heading from New York for England - the perfunctory plot of Anything Goes tells the tale of stowaway Billy Crocker, and his desperate pursuit of Hope Harcourt, the debutante fiancée of English aristocrat Lord Oakleigh. Also thrown into the mixing pot of characters are Moonface Martin (Public Enemy Number Thirteen), the raunchy Reno Sweeny, and a smattering of doltish FBI agents.

Although the plot sets up many moments of high farce, it is for Cole Porter's musical score that Anything Goes stands out. The show is peppered with classic tracks ranging from old time revivalist numbers such as Blow Gabriel Blow to zesty show-stoppers You're The Top, I Get A Kick Out of You, Anything Goes - and tender, intense love songs including All Through The Night.

The show was first performed in New York in November 1934 and opened in London the following year in June 1935 at the Palace Theatre. It has remained popular with audiences throughout the world and has been revived many times since.

“Few people realise how architecturally excellent his music is. There’s a foundation, a structure and an embellishment. Then you add the emotion he’s put in and the result is Cole Porter.” Richard Rogers

Born to Kate Cole and Sam Porter, hence his name, Cole Porter had a childhood where he wanted for nothing. His grandfather James Omar Cole was the richest man in Indiana and, although unhappy with the marriage, ensured that his daughter and

her family wanted for nothing. Porter was musician from a young age, learning both the violin and piano at six and composing songs by ten.

He was privately educated before joining Worcester Academy at 15 where he was deeply affected by his teacher Dr Abercrombie who taught him that “Words and music must be so inseparably wedded to each other that they are like one.”Porter continued his forays into music during his time at Yale University leaving with around 300 songs and 6 full scale productions to his name. After a short spell at Harvard studying law he left to pursue his musical career in New York where his first Broadway show See America First was a spectacular flop, closing within 15 performances.

In 1917 he moved to Paris, claiming he was working with the French Army’s war effort. In reality he was living the high life. Here he met divorcee Linda Thomas who he married. Although the two were close friends Thomas saw the marriage as a chance for high social status and Porter as a cover for his homosexual activities.

It was during the 1930s that Porter’s writing was at its most prolific. On Broadway The New Yorkers was followed by The Gay Divorce, before Anything Goes hit the stage in 1934. These shows were quickly followed by a string of hits all containing Porter’s exceptional songs. But in 1937 Porter had a horse riding accident which fractured both legs and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The injuries had a devastating psychological effect on him and the quality of his work waned, although he managed to produce Kiss Me Kate, Can Can and Silk Stockings in this period. Thomas died in 1954 and in1958 Porter had one of his legs amputated. His creativity slumped even more, along with his social engagements and general happiness. Cole Porter died in 1964.