You would be forgiven for thinking from the title of this concert that it was a celebration of the works of Cole Porter. It was actually a celebration of a certain ‘Mr. Producer’ and somewhat bizarrely didn’t feature the title song. That ‘Anything Goes’ was Sir Cameron’s first production is the only reason for the title that I could think of but the inclusion of the titular tune would have made sense.
The songs included in this show were far-ranging from the ‘blockbusters’ to the ‘never heard of’s’ although the number of shows that the songs were taken from was surprisingly limited. This gave a good grounding for the show even if some of the choices (particularly those from ‘The Card’) didn’t really lend themselves to being performed out of context.
The more obvious concert staples proved most popular with the audience and some wonderfully performed ballads from ‘Miss Saigon’ were highlights for me. I felt the inclusion of a few more ‘toe-tappers’ would have lifted the pace considerably although all of the songs were competently handled. The sound was perfectly balanced and a nicely written set of introductions and explanations were presented by various members of the cast throughout the evening. Many thanks for the warm welcome that I always receive here – an enjoyable evening.