ROUNDABOUT BLOG

“There’s no cure like travel, to help you unravel the worries of living today.”

The cast and crew of the National Tour of Anything Goes recently bid bon voyage to the road as they returned home from their 13 month voyage across North America. Traveling through 22 states, 28 cities and 2 countries, the company helped audience members unravel aboard the S.S. American with plenty of madcap antics and hijinks on the high seas.

Rachel York and the cast of Anything Goes. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Playing to rave reviews from the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Toronto Star and many more – audiences across the map fell in love with Kathleen Marshall’s choreography, Rachel York’s turn as Reno Sweeney and the many de-lovely passengers aboard ship.

“I decided that every musical ought to have three things: 1. Cole Porter, 2. Rachel York, 3. Kathleen Marshall,” praised Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star. Amen brother, as Reno Sweeney would say.

Act One Tap Finale. Photo by Joan Marcus.

When cast members weren’t busy delighting audiences with Cole Porter classics and show-stopping dance numbers, they took to the classroom to share the magic of live theatre with over 1,100 students across 24,333 miles. Our 18 traveling certified teaching artists taught over 444 hours of dance, character acting, tech and musical theatre workshops, along with pre-show chats, post-show talkbacks and Postcard Production Workshops.

To celebrate the success of Education@Roundabout on the tour route, our teaching artists hosted one last Postcard Productions Workshop in Greenville, SC, our final port. Treating 50 students to firsthand experience in the acting, directing, set designing, lighting, costume and even marketing departments, the group explored both the creative and technical processes that go into creating a real theatrical production.

Education@Roundabout Postcard Productions Workshop.

Students shared lessons learned from the experience and how those lessons will go onto impact their experiences with live theatre.

“To sit down and draw the costumes on the characters as we came up with our ideas, really helped me think about who that character was in a different way,” one student shared.

Others noticed the impact of effects sometimes overlooked by audience members. “I didn’t ever pay attention before to how much lighting changes the mood of a scene,” another student observed.

Not only did the students take away a new appreciation for the theatrical process, but the teaching artists snuck in a few life lessons as well.

“I learned that when you’re working in a group, it isn’t just your opinion that matters.  You have to compromise to keep things moving,” one of the students noted.

Greenville Student Production of Anything Goes.

Just as the crew of the S.S. American worked together each night to woo audiences with their Fred and Ginger dance steps and Mae West comedic chops, the students came together to pull off their own “mini-production” of Anything Goes and took away not only a better understanding, but great memories with our cast as well.

To learn more about our production and National Tour of Anything Goes, visit the Roundabout Archive.