P and I went up to New York for my birthday trip this past weekend with 2 things on our agenda: 1. Eat at Bubby’s for brunch (amazing blueberry pancakes) and 2. See Sutton Foster in Anything Goes. Both accomplished, with a few additional upgrades like free tickets to the NFL Draft and seeing Zoe Saldana late saturday night on 5th avenue….she’s stunning in person. If I wasn’t such a nerd, I would have asked for a picture instead of beating Pete’s arm to look over at her….oh well 🙂

Back to the show.

First trip to the Stephen Sondheim theater, beautiful place. It’s super nice to be able to have some “leg room”. Compared to the Cort and Al Herschfeld theaters where your squished in like sardines, this was a major upgrade.

From the start of the overture to the curtain call I was completely sucked in. It was purely magical. The set was magnificent, the orchestrations, the costumes, stage direction, all fabulous. Think I was impressed? Psht, yeah.

Going into it, I knew it was going to be a treat, not only was Sutton leading the way, but all of the reviews were glowing, so there was no WAY I was going to be disappointed. From her first steps onto the stage in the opening bar scene, Sutton was sensational, maybe it was just me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her the whole time :). Can’t imagine how challenging it is try and share the stage with her, but Laura Osnes, did a great job of holding her own as Hope Harcourt. The contrast of their styles probably helped her separate herself from under Sutton’s shadow.

Besides the fact that Sutton oozes talent, her comedic and acting chops were matched with Oscar and Tony Winner Joel Grey. Making this on stage duo a hysterical hit. They generally appear to be enjoying each others company and that makes their “on stage” relationship that much more enjoyable. Putting 2 award winning seasoned actors on stage…smart move Kathleen Marshall. Colin Donnell stepped into the role as Billy Crocker, two timing womanizer idolizing the engaged Hope Harcourt. He’s vocal tone fit well with the 1930’s score, and he’s cute fresh face brought a breathe of fresh air to the revival. Adam Godley, best known for his role in Love Actually…which I was sure to tell him was one of my favorite movies of all time 😛 (nerd), was delightfully, charming as the hopelessly awkward Lord Evelyn. P was more impressed for the chance to see “Lucille” from Arrested Development as Evangeline Harcourt. If we had the chance to meet here we’ d be sure to drop some classic AD quotes or explain how I really am “Aunt Lindsey”…We waited afterwards at the stage door and met everyone , but the top 4 billers. I was only mildly sad since I had the chance to meet Sutton in January… but the chance to meet Joel Grey would have been something for the books…

The choreography for the two big musical numbers, “Anything Goes” and ” Blow, Gabriel Blow” were amazing, this juvenile word barely describes how truly magnificent it was… but it truly was simply amazing. By the end of “Anything Goes” I felt myself getting misty just being so fortunate enough to have been there to see it in person. Seeing the performance on Good Morning America was mildly underwhelming….completely different in person, with the orchestra, and the sets, and just everything else…”Blow, Gabriel Blow”‘s re orchestration from the original was a fun, new twist. Props to creativity. If they do get to perform at the Tony’s this year, I vote for this number, it never gets the same attention as the title number these days.

I’ve seen a lot of shows over the years. Each one has been completely different, leaving a different stamp on me as the curtain’s dropped after the finale. How to Succeed… left me feeling a bit giddy and perky. 9 to 5 left me feeling empowered. Spring Awakening left me feeling a mix of sadness and enlightenment. Rent left me feeling like a teeny bopper….maybe that’s because Joey Fatone was playing “Mark” at the time… :P.

Anything goes left me feeling completely whole, overjoyed, and genuinely happy. I never wanted it to end. This show has everything: a FANTASTIC score filled with timeless classics, mesmerizing choreography, an unbelievable cast, beautiful costumes, ornate sets, comedy, romance, gangsters, guns, sparkles, boats, I could go on and on…

I even looked over a few times to see P smiling and appearing to have a good time…promising for all you gals out there who are hoping to take your man to the theater :). Needless to say, GO SEE IT and on Tuesday when those Tony nominations come out…I expect to see Anything Goes, Sutton Foster, and Joel Grey in a number of categories 🙂