Rachel York, who starred in the U.S. national tour of Anything Goes, once again steps into the role of Reno Sweeney when she succeeds Tony winner Sutton Foster in the London revival of the musical, beginning October 12 at the Barbican Theatre.
York, most recently seen on Broadway in Head Over Heels, will stay with the company through its final performance November 6. York has also been seen on Broadway in City of Angels, Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sly Fox, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Disaster! The Musical.
The London revival, with Foster re-creating her Tony-winning performance, began previews July 23 prior to an official opening August 4. (Read the reviews here.) Foster played her final performance October 10. She is next scheduled to star opposite Hugh Jackman in a Broadway revival of The Music Man.
READ: Upcoming The Music Man Star Sutton Foster on Producer Scott Rudin 'Stepping Back'
Directed and choreographed by Tony winner Kathleen Marshall—who helmed the 2011 Broadway revival of the Cole Porter musical—the London company of Anything Goes also includes Tony and Olivier winner Robert Lindsay as Moonface Martin, Gary Wilmot as Elisha Whitney, Samuel Edwards as Billy Crocker, Nicole-Lily Baisden as Hope Harcourt, Haydn Oakley as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, and Carly Mercedes Dyer as Erm.
The company will welcome Tony and Olivier nominee Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot the Musical) October 19. She succeeds Felicity Kendal as Evangeline Harcourt.
The ensemble features Jon Chew, Clive Hayward, Alistair So, Marc Akinfolarin, Simon Anthony, Georgie Ashford, Vivien Carter, Natalie Chua, Eamonn Cox, Jordan Crouch, Frances Dee, Charlene Ford, Selina Hamilton, Maddie Harper, Michael Lin, Robbie McMillan, Tom Partridge, Jack Wilcox, Alexandra Wright, George Beet, Gabrielle Cocca, Emily Ormiston, and Liam Wrate.
The Barbican production also has set design by Derek McLane, costumes by Jon Morrell, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound design by Jonathan Deans, and music supervision by Stephen Ridley.
The aforementioned Broadway revival of Anything Goes, from Roundabout Theatre Company, ended its run July 8, 2012, after more than 500 performances at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Marshall earned the Best Choreography Tony for her work on the production, which won the 2011 Best Musical Revival Tony.
The 1934 musical has songs by Porter and a libretto by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, who drew on the original depression-era script (by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse) for this version of the show, which debuted at the Vivian Beaumont in 1987 starring Tony winner Patti LuPone. That production won the Tony for Best Revival as well.
Set aboard a transatlantic ocean liner, the show features "You're the Top," "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," "It's De-Lovely," "I Get a Kick Out of You," and the toe-tapping title song, among others.
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