Theater Review: 'Anything Goes' at Bethel High School

Review by Nancy Sasso Janis

Bethel High School presented a fun production of “Anything Goes” for only one weekend in the very comfortable auditorium of their campus. The Bethel students were directed by Beth Salvador. Kristen Heyel served as the producer, the choreographers were Sarah Perille and Gretta Roche and choir teacher Christine Manalo worked with the singers as vocal director.

I got to see two productions of “Anything Goes” in the same week, but Cole Porter never gets old. “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl…but does boy get girl back?”

The director and producer call Porter a genius, “a master of the English language and as any cast member will tell you, there are a lot of words in this show.” The two go on to remind us that in 1934, life was very different. “It is a time that seems very unrelatable to our modern sensibilities but as the students discovered, life may have been very different but people are very much the same. It has been a joy to work with these young adults as they tackle this classic piece of American musical theater that is chock full of reference and setting styles unfamiliar to them.

Georgia O’Connor was able to shine in the role of (a redheaded) Reno Sweeney, singing well and owning the stage whenever she was on it. Her lovely angels were played by Juliana Herzog as Purity, Sarah Borsch as Charity, Bella Valenti as Chastity and Francesca DelGardo as Virtue, decked out in red, white and blue.

Will Esposito (Prince Eric in last year’s “Little Mermaid’) did very well with the role of Billy Crocker, with a great singing voice and an easy charm on the stage. Dylan Ellis (Chef Louise last year) was very confident and extremely comedic in the role of Elisha Whitney, the demanding boss of Billy.

Hailey Waller sang beautifully in the role of the debutant Hope Harcourt. Paige Steele worked a dog puppet (as Cheeky) in her role as Hope’s overbearing mother, Evangeline.

Pedro DaSilva (King Triton last year) clearly had many fans in the audience as he played Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, with elated jumps and some comic dancing.

Jeremy Finn (Grimsby in “Mermaid) gave a fabulously funny performance in the role of Moonface Martin. He was completely comfortable in his character and had some hysterical moments of improv that broke up members of the production team (and me.) Another strong performer was Fabiana Lima (the crab Sebastian in “Mermaid”) in the delicious role of Erma Latour, Moonface’s cohort. Her rendition of “Buddie, Beware” just about stopped the show.

Angel Batista played the captain of the ship and Jayden Garofalo-Colon as purser gets extra points because he performed live on the trumpet on the upper deck during “Blow Gabriel Blow.” Garofalo-Colon also played Fred the Bartender in the first scene. Joseph Sacchinelli and Valentina Pepi were a great team as Spit and Dippy.

The performers in the Sailor Quartet included Lainey Mazza, Nyah Rodriguesz, Kara Rondano (Flounder last year,) and Ava Santoiannni. Norah McCollam covered the role of the real Henry T. Dobson and Dash Binguet was the news photographer, with Ashlee Mendieta as the reporter at her side. Mazza and Rodriguez changed costumes to play FBI agents. Eden Kopreski was the old lady in a wheelchair and the passengers included Dash Binguet, Eden Kopreski, McCollam and Mendieta.

Mr. Brendan Michalko led the musicians as pit director, but he also got to play a brief role in the show. During the number “Friendship,” Reno and Moonface sparred through the classic song, verbally escalating as the song continued. When the pair brought themselves up close to the pit, the conductor tapped his baton on his music stand to stop the arguing. Only then did the two notice that the music had stopped, there were many people in the audience and Mr. Michalko was not pleased. It was a funny bit that personalized the number and I got “a Kick Out Of” it.

The large group of pit musicians included four professional musicians, with Manalo on keyboard (and the tosser of one important prop.) Nine students filled out the orchestra seats, making the score sound glorious.

There were a few other points during the show in which things may not have gone as planned, but the students covered well and made them even funnier than in the script. I loved it.

The Bethel students are blessed with two stage managers, one for each side of the stage. Emily Parpana was the show’s prop master, with prop work by Zoe Robertson. Lighting by Aiden Badia worked well and made the set constructed by John Luhrs look great. Dave Waller was responsible for additional set pieces.

Costume design and execution by Madisyn Friedl looked great and matched the era. Incidental costumes were by Laura Nilsen, with additional costumers Yashvi Bhavsar, Izzy Danielson and Lilah Poston. There were lots of changes for the performers that maintained the color schemes. It takes a village…

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She is also a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the newspaper.

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