Everything goes at PHS’s final performance

PALMER — As another school year winds down for summer, so does another year of theater at Palmer High School.

Wrapping up a school year packed with British farces, serious dramas and pages of music, PHS Music Director Stan Harris is focusing on a grand finale production full of comedy, dance and song with the classic musical “Anything Goes.” The production continues this weekend with three final performances May 8-10.

“Anything Goes” is a parody set on the decks of an ocean liner bound for London from New York. The original idea came from producer Vinton Freedley, who was living on a boat in 1934, pulling from his experiences and imagination. Freedley recruited director and writers Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse to write the original script and Cole Porter to supply the tunes.

In the musical, Billy Crocker (James Viera), a young, lovesick Wall Street broker, stows away on the S.S. American, in hopes of winning the heart of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Rachel Kenley). Hope is on her way to England to marry Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, a hapless British nobleman.

Also aboard are “Moonface” Martin (Micah Fry), a second-rate gangster on the run, and his friend Bonnie. The two have disguised themselves as a minister and a missionary after leaving the ship’s real chaplain back in New York.

Crocker runs into an old friend, Reno Sweeney (Sierra Lamb), a nightclub singer, who decides to help Billy win over Hope, to the dismay of Hope’s mother, Mrs. Harcourt (Madison Moss), who insists she marry Evelyn.

Cole Porter’s music comes to life with classics such as “You’re the Tops,” “DeLovely,” “I Get a Kick Out of You” and the title track, still popular with audiences for more than seven decades.

As a comedy-musical, “Anything Goes” has plenty of young talent, courtesy of the music and art department at PHS.

Vierra’s voice is American Idol at its best, with the junior producing some of the most memorable musical moments of the production.

Fry, familiar to PHS’s stage, produces the most laughs as the fumbling, bumbling “Moonface.”

For “Anything Goes,” Harris — who plays the flute in the show’s orchestra — handed his customary directing duties to friend and longtime Valley director Grant Olson, who agreed the musical would be perfect to close the school’s busy year with a bang.

“I’ve done three other musicals in the past,” he said. “So Stan knew to call on me.”

IF YOU GO

“Anything Goes” at Palmer High School continues at 7 p.m. May 8, 9 and 10 at the school’s theater. For reservations, contact 746-8403. Admission is $10 per person.