Anything Goes

Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The "book" was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It introduced such songs as "You're the Top" and "Anything Goes".

Related Topics:
Musical - Cole Porter - Guy Bolton - P.G. Wodehouse - Howard Lindsay - Russel Crouse

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Anything Goes was based on an idea by a producer, Vinton Freedley, who was living on a boat in Panama, having left the USA to avoid his debts. He selected the writing team, and the star, Ethel Merman. As the show was in preparation, a passenger ship, the SS Morro Castle, burned and over 125 passengers perished. The plot, which concerned a shipwreck, was deemed insensitive, and the show was largely rewritten.

Related Topics:
Vinton Freedley - Panama - Ethel Merman - SS Morro Castle

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The resulting story was that of a nightclub singer, Reno Sweeney, played by Merman. The show opened at the Alvin Theatre, New York City, on 21 November, 1934 and became the fourth longest-running musical of the 1930s. It was filmed in 1936, starring Ethel Merman and Bing Crosby.

Related Topics:
Alvin Theatre - New York City - 21 November - 1934 - 1930s - 1936 - Bing Crosby

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The song "Anything Goes" achieved a minor revival when it was used in the famous Monty Python's Flying Circus "Courtroom sketch". The Pythons also introduced a completely different (no pun intended) song called "Anything Goes" by "the other Cole Porter". ("Anything goes in, anything goes out, fish, bananas, old pyjamas, mutton, beef and trout...")

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According to the title song, "In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now God knows, anything goes".

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Perhaps one of the most widely-seen slices of the musical is the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where Kate Capshaw (a.k.a. Willie) sings the title song in Cantonese at a Shanghai club Harrison Ford (a.k.a. Indiana Jones) is visiting.

Related Topics:
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - Kate Capshaw - Cantonese - Shanghai - Harrison Ford

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For the 1987 Broadway Revival, which starred Patti Lupone in the role of Reno Sweeney, John Weidman and Timothy Crouse (Russel's son) updated the book and re-ordered the musical numbers, borrowing Cole Porter pieces, most notably the song "De-Lovely", from other Porter shows, a practice which the composer often engaged in.

Related Topics:
1987 - Patti Lupone - John Weidman - Timothy Crouse

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