Felicity Kendal to make musical debut this summer in Anything Goes at the Barbican, alongside Gary Wilmot

Howard Panter for Trafalgar Theatre Productions and

Eilene Davidson Productions

proudly present

THE PERFECT TONIC FOR LONDON AUDIENCES IN 2021

The multi-Tony Award winning musical

including for Best Musical Revival & Best Choreography

ADDITIONAL STAR CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT

FELICITY KENDAL & GARY WILMOT

as Evangeline Harcourt as Elisha Whitney

join

Emmy & SAG Award Winner Tony, Olivier & BAFTA Award Winner

MEGAN MULLALLY & ROBERT LINDSAY

as Reno Sweeney as Moonface Martin

“Cole Porter songs and tap-dancing sailors? What’s not to love?”

The Hollywood Reporter

“Anything Goes is a truly great musical comedy”

Chicago Tribune

A MAJOR NEW PRODUCTION OF THIS CLASSIC MUSICAL COMEDY WITH A FULL COMPANY OF OVER 50, INCLUDING A FULL-SIZED ORCHESTRA AND 14 TAP DANCING SAILORS!

Music and Lyrics by COLE PORTER

Original Book by P.G. WODEHOUSE & GUY BOLTON

and HOWARD LINDSAY & RUSSEL CROUSE

New Book by TIMOTHY CROUSE and JOHN WEIDMAN

Directed and Choreographed by

Tony Award Winner KATHLEEN MARSHALL

BARBICAN THEATRE FROM 5 JUNE 2021

FOR A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT UNTIL 22 AUGUST 2021

TICKETS ON SALE NOW FROM ANYTHINGGOESMUSICAL.CO.UK

Acting royalty and Evening Standard Theatre Award winner Felicity Kendal (The Good Life / Much Ado About Nothing) will make her West End musical debut starring as Evangeline Harcourt, alongside leading West End actor Gary Wilmot (Chicago / Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) as Elisha Whitney, in this year’s must see musical ANYTHING GOES – one of the greatest musicals of all-time – which opens at London’s Barbican Theatre for a strictly limited 11-week engagement from 5 June 2021. The pair will join Emmy & SAG Award winner Megan Mullally as Reno Sweeney and Tony, Olivier & BAFTA Award winner Robert Lindsay as Moonface Martin. Tickets are on sale now

Felicity Kendal said: “It’s wonderful to be joining this classic joyous show after the past terrible year of loss and lockdown. We need to connect together again in our theatres and there is nothing quite like the thrill of a live audience experiencing a great show. I am sure that this is a perfect moment for this glorious, funny and uplifting musical and cannot wait to get started.”

Gary Wilmot added: “Anything Goes is such a joyous musical and I’m thrilled to be joining the incredible cast for this wonderful revival. I look forward to being back on stage in London for some real toe-tapping fun!“

This lavish production of Cole Porter & P.G. Wodehouse’s classic musical, featuring a full company of over 50 including a full-sized orchestra and even 14 tap dancing sailors, will be directed and choreographed by three time Tony Award Winner Kathleen Marshall. Marshall’s Broadway production of ANYTHING GOES was a major smash hit and received huge critical acclaim. The revival was nominated for nine Tony Awards and 10 Drama Desk Awards, winning Best Musical Revival and Best Choreography at both ceremonies. Now Marshall, in her West End directing debut, will reinvent this glorious musical for London audiences this summer in what is set to be the definitive version of this timeless classic.

With music and lyrics by Cole Porter and the original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse, ANYTHING GOES will premiere at the Barbican Theatre from June to August 2021 and then embark on a UK tour. Further casting will be announced soon.

When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love… proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, a comical disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. This hilarious musical romp across the Atlantic featuring a collection of some of theatre’s most memorable songs – including ‘I Get A Kick Out of You’, ‘Anything Goes’, ‘You’re the Top’, ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’, ‘It’s De-Lovely’, ‘Friendship’ and ‘Buddie Beware’ – will take you back to the Golden Age of high society on the seas. ANYTHING GOES is set to sail away with audiences all over again

PRESS QUOTES

“Exudes the effervescence of a freshly poured gin fizz…It’s a knockout!” – The New York Times

“So Delightful, so De-Lovely, it’s The Top!” – Associated Press

“This new ‘Anything Goes’ is a daffy, shipshape romp” – Variety

“Pure Magic” – New York Post

“You’ll get a kick out of ‘Anything Goes” – USA Today

Felicity Kendal – Evangeline Harcourt

Felicity Kendal is a British actress who is a veteran of the stage and screen. She shot to fame in the 1970s with her career defining role of ‘Barbara Good’ in the popular BBC sitcom The Good Life.

Kendal has made important contributions to stage, such as playing Desdemona to Paul Scofield’s Othello and a memorable Viola in a BBC production of Twelfth Night (1980). Kendal starred in many of the first productions Tom Stoppard’s plays, including The Real Thing (1982), Hapgood (1988), Arcadia (1993), and Indian Ink (1995) – this last role was written for her by Stoppard. She continues to perform regularly in London’s West End. In 2013 she starred in the first London revival of Relatively Speaking by Alan Ayckbourn at the Wyndham’s Theatre. In 2014, she toured the UK and Australia as Judith Bliss in Noël Coward’s Hay Fever, which then played in the West End. She appeared in A Room With A View at the Theatre Royal in Bath (2016) which received excellent reviews. More recently, Felicity starred with Maureen Lipman in a revival of Lettice and Lovage at the Menier Chocolate Factory and also in The Argument at Theatre Royal Bath.

Her credits on the screen are also extensive. Most recently she featured in Pennyworth for Warner Bros and prior to that in the cult hit dark comedy Inside No.9 (BBC), and the iconic Dr Who (BBC) as ‘Lady Clemency Eddison’.

Felicity was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1995.

Gary Wilmot – Elisha Whitney

Theatre credits include: Jethro Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre), Dame Betty Barnum Goldilocks & The Three Bears (London Palladium), Jonathan Ripples Mr Gum & The Dancing Bear (National Theatre), Mrs Crumble – Snow White and the Seven Dwarf (London Palladium), Major/Monsieur Armande – Flowers for Mrs Harris (Chichester Festival Theatre), Sarah The Cook – Dick Whittington (London Palladium), Badger – The Wind in the Willows (London Palladium), George McMillan – Big (Plymouth/Ireland), Anthony – End of the Rainbow (UK Tour), Andre Thibault – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (UK Tour), Ali Hakim – Oklahoma (UK Tour), Andre Thibault – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre), Vernon Hines – The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre), Sammy Shaw – Radio Times (The Watermill and National Tour), Thomas Marvel – The Invisible Man (Menier Chocolate Factory), Septimus Podgers – Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime, Billy Flynn – Chicago, Arthur Kipps – Half A Sixpence, Dick Deadeye – H.M.S. Pinafore (Regent’s Park), Caractacus Potts – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium), Henry 3 – Travels With My Aunt, Pirate King -The Pirates Of Penzance (Regent’s Park and National Tour), Bottom – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park), Confusions (National Tour), Dennis Cain – One For The Road (Bristol Old Vic), Fagin – Oliver (National Tour), Elliot Garfield – The Goodbye Girl (Albery Theatre), Tony – Copacabana (Prince Of Wales Theatre), Joe – Carmen Jones (The Old Vic), Bill Snibson – Me And My Girl (Adelphi Theatre and National Tour) for which he received a TMA best actor nomination.

Television credits include: How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Don Black – Diamonds Are Forever, Cue Gary, Showstoppers, The Saturday Gang, Copycats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Other credits include: Host / Soloist of From Hackney to Hollywood – The Songs of Don Black (UK Tour) and host of the Laurence Olivier Awards.

As a writer and director: Sweet Lorraine at Regis Centre, Bognor Regis.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Barbican Theatre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

First Performance: 5 June 2021

Final performance: 22 August 2021

Performances: Tuesday – Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm

Running time: approximately 2 hours 30 minutes, including interval

Tickets: £25 – £150, plus booking fee

Barbican Box Office: barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2021/event/anything-goes

Website: AnythingGoesMusical.co.uk

Twitter: @AnythingGUK

Facebook: @AnythingGoesUK

Instagram: @AnythingGoesUK

Presented in association with the Barbican