NEW STAR CASTING IS ANNOUNCED FOR SMASH HIT SHOW ANYTHING GOES WHICH RETURNS TO THE BARBICAN & TOURS THE UK THIS SUMMER

Howard Panter for Trafalgar Theatre Productions, Eilene Davidson Productions

Mallory Factor for Hill Street Productions, Rupert Gavin, BookMyShow, WYS en Scène and David Lazar

proudly present

in association with Christian C. Yegen, Mark Lubkeman, Kathryn Bricken and Jason Brueschke for APOTA Productions, Dani Lachowicz and Donald Featherstone

“THE SHOW OF THE YEAR” RETURNS TO THE BARBICAN AND ANNOUNCES NEW STAR CASTING

The multi Tony Award-winning musical

With a new STAR CAST including

“The best reviewed show of the year. Utterly flawless”

London Theatre Online

“The antidote to everything”

The Guardian

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

TICKETS ON SALE NOW FROM

ANYTHINGGOESMUSICAL.CO.UK

New star casting has been announced for ANYTHING GOES, the smash hit ‘show of the year’ which is sailing back to the Barbican for a return residency following its sold out run in summer 2021. The new cast includes: WhatOnStage Award Winner Kerry Ellis (Wicked/We Will Rock You) as Reno Sweeney and Olivier Award Winner Denis Lawson (Bleak House/New Tricks) as Moonface Martin. Joining them on board is Olivier Award Winner Simon Callow (Four Weddings & a Funeral/Amadeus) as Elisha Whitney and Musical Theatre Royalty Bonnie Langford (EastEnders/9 to 5) as Evangeline Harcourt. As well as its triumphant return to the Barbican, this glorious musical will also be visiting theatres in Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Canterbury and Manchester.

Last year ANYTHING GOES smashed multiple Box Office records at the Barbican Theatre including the single highest grossing performance week for a musical in the Barbican’s 39-year history and the highest sales across a weekend for a musical, as audiences flooded through the doors for the 15-week sold out season!

It was therefore no surprise that last year’s summer season of ANYTHING GOES saw audiences on their feet night after night, giving this multi–Tony Award winning show multiple standing ovations. This spectacular show has been described as the “musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another” (The Times) and “delightful, delicious, and as buoyant as helium” (Evening Standard).

Kerry Ellis said: “I am so excited to be taking on the role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes this summer. This glorious show is classic musical theatre at its very best. Reno is an iconic character in musical theatre. I can’t wait to get my tap shoes on and share this fabulous musical with audiences up and down the country.”

Denis Lawson said: “I’m delighted to be joining the cast of this great classic musical. Anything Goes is uplifting, energetic, and hilarious – with an unforgettable Cole Porter score. Audiences are in for a real treat.”

Simon Callow at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011. He gave a talk on his memoirs ‘My Life in Pieces’. English thespian, writer, and theatre director: 15 June 1949 – .

Simon Callow said: “Like everyone who saw Anything Goes last summer, I was swept away by it. The sheer joy of sharing its exuberance, wit and style with my fellow theatregoers – the perfect antidote to Covid and all its miseries. I couldn’t be happier to be joining the show as we spread the joy around the country and back to the Barbican.”

Bonnie Langford said: “I simply adore this show. It’s vibrant, fun and bursting with a feel-good energy that is contagious both on and off stage. It really is musical theatre at its finest.”

Reprising their co-starring roles in this year’s UK tour and Barbican season are Samuel Edwards (Les Misérables / Wicked) as Billy Crocker, Carly Mercedes Dyer (A Chorus Line/The Color Purple) as Erma (a role in which she is nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award this year), Nicole-Lily Baisden (The Book of Mormon / Let’s Face The Music) as Hope Harcourt, Haydn Oakley (A Christmas Carol / An American in Paris) as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Further casting will be announced soon.

From spring 2022, the hilarious sold-out musical sensation returns giving audiences across the country the chance to enjoy the truly spectacular, multi-Tony Award winning, “show of the year!” (★★★★★ Daily Telegraph), as the S.S American will be heading to theatres in Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Canterbury on its way to the Barbican!

Producer Sir Howard Panter said: “We are delighted to be back with the glorious Anything Goes musical on tour this spring and at the Barbican this summer. I’m thrilled that this energetic and uplifting show will be led by Kerry Ellis, Denis Lawson, Bonnie Langford and Simon Callow, with an ensemble of the finest there is to offer, including tap dancing sailors, and a full-sized live orchestra. We are delighted to take this majestic show to audiences across the UK for the first time, so they can enjoy the glorious set design, breathtaking choreography and stage direction, and of course the wonderful score!”

ANYTHING GOES has music and lyrics by Cole Porter, an original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton with Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse and a new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman. This production is directed and choreographed by three time Tony Award Winner Kathleen Marshall.

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.

Heralded as “The antidote to everything” (The Guardian) and “The Spectacle of the Year” (The Times) ANYTHING GOES is set to sail away with audiences all over again and is destined to be the definitive feel good production of 2022.

★★★★★

‘Makes you gasp in wonder and laugh till it hurts. Pure class’

Daily Telegraph

★★★★★

‘The show of the year. I would give it six stars if I could’

Daily Telegraph

★★★★★

‘The musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another’

The Times

★★★★★

‘When a musical packs this much energy and spectacle, nothing else goes!’

Daily Mail

★★★★★

‘Bubbly wit and stylish fun. It shimmers and sparkles’

The Times

★★★★★

‘Anything Goes offers the delirious delight of a musical in full sail’

Financial Times

CREATIVE TEAM

Kathleen Marshall – Director & Choreographer

Derek McLane – Set Designer

Jon Morrell – Costume Designer

Hugh Vanstone – Lighting Designer

Jonathan Deans – Sound Designer

Stephen Ridley – Music Supervisor

Dates: Venue:

11th – 16th April 2022 Bristol: Hippodrome Theatre

20th – 30th April 2022 Liverpool: Empire Theatre

11th – 21st May 2022 Edinburgh: Festival Theatre

24th May – 4th June 2022 Canterbury: Marlowe Theatre

9th – 18th June 2022 Manchester: Palace Theatre

15th July – 3rd September 2022 London: Barbican Theatre