Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"..."Anything Goes" was first seen in 1934 and gave the Great American Songbook such venerable entries, along with the title song, as "You're the Top," "All Through the Night," and "I Get a Kick Out of You." That original book was by P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. But in 1987, the writers Timothy Crouse (son of Russel) and John Weidman penned a new libretto for a Lincoln Center production starring Patti LuPone, retaining the character types but changing the plot somewhat (not that it much matters) and reordering the musical numbers and who sings them. More significantly, they built on the practice of adding Porter songs written for other shows (such as "Friendship," written for his 1939 musical "DuBarry Was a Lady"). In sum, pretty much any time anyone opens their mouth to sing in this show, the audience already knows the song from a thousand studio recordings."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...For those of us unable to escape the Chicago winter for sunnier skies, Porchlight Music Theatre offers us the opportunity to sail into its 29th season with a 90th anniversary production of Cole Porter's nautical comedy "Anything Goes!""
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Directed by Michael Weber and choreographed by Tammy Mader, with music direction by Nick Sula, the show is just the blast of sunshine Chicagoans need as they trudge through the subzero indignities of a long, gray winter. "
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Now open is the centerpiece of the fest: a stellar production of Anything Goes at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago’s Gold Coast. This is a show worth defrosting your car for. This is a show worth braving winter storm warnings, or sloshing through rain and wind and being gloriously live and in person. This is a show that has got it all: pithy lyrics that set a standard for the genre, tap dancing, bring you to your feet musical numbers, ace comic timing, fast moving plot, sumptuous costumes, and an optimism that we could really use in this century."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Most of you are probably not familiar with the great Cole Porter, but his music is. Songs like "I Get A Kick Out Of You", "Your The Top", "Easy To Love", "Friendship", "It's De-Lovely". "Blow Gabriel Blow", "Anything Goes" and more, more, more! Under the sharp direction of Michael Weber, who truly understand Porter and his work with solid choreography by Tammy Mader ( tap dance lovers will feel as if they have died and gone to heaven) and solid musical direction by Nick Sula, this is a solid production with casting that is about as perfect as one can get!"
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...To get straight to the point: Without a moment’s hesitation, the powers that be at Porchlight Music Theatre should invite a slew of heavyweight New York producers to Chicago to see its bravura production of “Anything Goes,” the classic 1934 Cole Porter musical. And without changing a single thing — from its sensational, multi-talented cast, to its superb band, to its outstanding direction and choreography and its expert design — some or all of those producers should immediately jump at the chance to bring this show directly to Broadway where it can serve as an ideal celebration of the musical’s 90th anniversary."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...Directed by Michael Weber, Anything Goes follows Billy Crocker (Luke Nowakowski), a man hopelessly in love with Hope Harcourt (Emma Ogea). The one problem? She is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Jackson Evans), and her mother is eager to see that this wedding takes place. Billy sets out as a stowaway onboard the ocean liner S.S. American – desperate to win the love of his life. Ultimately, if he wants to succeed, he finds that his only hope is to trust his alliances with nightclub singer Reno Sweeney (Meghan Murphy) and two wanted criminals - Moonface Martin (Steve McDonagh) and Erma (Tafadzwa Diener)."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...Ninety years ago ANYTHING GOES debuted as a madcap musical. The tale follows the antics of a stowaway, a debutante, a nightclub singer, a criminal and an English Lord on a cruise ship. Disguises, mistaken identities and vaudevillian-like gags pepper the quest for love on the high seas.The book is light. Even with a new 2022 libretto, it plays like an episode of "Love Boat." Yet, under the masterful direction of Michael Weber, along with choreography by Tammy Mader and music direction by Nick Sula, this ANYTHING GOES sparkles as a loving, bubbly tribute to Cole Porter."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Recommended
"...But director Michael Weber is also smart enough to treat this Anything Goes like an ensemble piece. We have the suave sort, (Luke Nowakowski), the gangster galoot (Steve MacDonald), the ingenue (Emma Ogea), and the toff (Jackson Evans). Each take a nibble at these bon-bon roles and find a nougat center. Ogea and Evans, in particular—she for digging down deeper into this musical comedy debutante’s soul than one could ever anticipate, and he for delightfully turning into rubber at the slightest stimulus."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Get your tickets and grab your seats. On the relatively small stage at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Porchlight Music Theatre is putting on a big, big show: the 90th anniversary production of Cole Porter's inimitable Anything Goes."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Some shows have deep meanings. Some spend tons of time developing the nuances of their characters. And then there are those shows that are simply fun. Guess which category Cole Porter's Anything Goes falls into. (Congratulations! You got it in one!)"
PicksInSix - Highly Recommended
"...Porchlight Music Theatre celebrates the Chicago Cole Porter Festival and launches their 29th Season with a sparkling, effervescent 90th anniversary production of "Anything Goes" superbly directed by Michael Weber featuring Meghan Murphy in a big, boisterous star turn as the seaworthy siren Reno Sweeney. The book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, was adapted for the 1987 Broadway revival from the 1934 original by P.C. Woodhouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It tells the story of an oceanic crossing with a zany cast of characters with Murphy's Sweeney at the delectable center of Porter's most beloved music and lyrics."
MaraTapp.org - Highly Recommended
"...What better way to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the iconic Cole Porter’s Anything Goes than with Porchlight’s dazzling revival? The show starts with Cole Porter singing, the perfect way to begin an evening of brilliant songs, gorgeous dance and wild antics that will keep a smile on your face."
Life and Times - Highly Recommended
"...Porchlight Music Theatre’s glitzy production of “Anything Goes”, featuring some of composer and lyricist Cole Porter’s most popular and well-known songs, is lighting up the stage in blazing glory at Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago."
Chicago Culture Authority - Highly Recommended
"...Even 90 years after its Broadway debut, Cole Porter's rollicking shipboard romance Anything Goes still has its sea legs-especially with the incandescent Meghan Murphy making waves as naughty nightclub singer Reno Sweeney in this Porchlight Music Theatre production at the Ruth Page Center."
City Pleasures - Highly Recommended
"...There are a lot of things this world could do with more of and that includes Cole Porter musicals. Porchlight Music Theatre must have sensed that void when it decided to launch its 90th anniversary production of one of Porter’s timeless jewels, Anything Goes. Now playing at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, the freewheeling romp through the mind and handiwork of a roguishly witty musical giant puts a whole new slant on what it is to be wowed."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...The nearly flawless Porchlight Music Theatre production of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes now playing at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts is a classic example of how lightness, silliness and absurdity in the theatre can nonetheless, at times, be profoundly pleasurable."
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"...It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely...it's ANYTHING GOES at Porchlight Music Theatre. Artistic Director Michael Weber's production captures all the joy and laughs in Cole Porter's 1934 classic musical comedy. Thanks to the new 2022 book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, it's also a tight ship running two hours and fifteen minutes (original book by P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.)"
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...It’s January in Chicago, and we must somehow survive it. You could go to Miami, but not everyone has the time. So here’s a closer source of heat—a dynamite production of “Anything Goes” at Porchlight Music Theatre, directed by Michael Weber and starring the fabulous Meghan Murphy. It’s so much fun, and you’ll have Cole Porter songs in your head for days."
