Westminster Music Theater to Present Cole Porter's Anything Goes
Westminster Music Theater will present Anything Goes Thursday, April 28; Friday, April 29; and Saturday, April 30 at 8:00 p.m. A matinee performance will be presented on Sunday, May 1 at 3:00 p.m. All performances will take place in The Playhouse on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton.
Cole Porter's 1934 musical was initially supposed to revolve around an impending shipwreck -- that is, until an actual shipwreck occurred just before the show went into rehearsals. The disaster portion was done away with, leaving intact the musical -- Anything Goes, as it has come to be known -- a lighthearted romp on a ship with criminals and nightclub singers and classic songs like "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Blow Gabriel Blow," as well as the title song.
The creative team behind this production includes stage director Bill Fabris, music director Richard Gordon, and choreographer May Lou Barber. The cast is composed of Westminster students.
A regular with Chautauqua Opera, Bill Fabris has directed H.M.S. Pinafore, The Barber of Seville and The Mikado as well as several musical reviews for the Young Artist Program. Equally at home in the worlds of opera and musical theater, Mr. Fabris has been directing musicals for the past several years at the Ash Lawn-Highland Summer Festival. Recent productions include Fiddler On The Roof, Oklahoma!, The Wizard of Oz and Kiss Me, Kate.
Mr. Fabris’ work regularly appears on the stages of regional opera companies, including OperaDelaware, Mobile Opera, Opera Colorado Artist Center, Eugene Opera, South Carolina Opera, Opera Pacific, Natchez Opera, Lyric Opera of San Antonio and Opera Boston.
His New York credits include The Desert Song, The Merry Widow and Countess Maritza for the Village Light Opera Group. Since 1987, Mr. Fabris has been director and choreographer for the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Highlights of his work include the recent productions of The Pirates of Penzance and H.M.S. Pinafore at City Center. Off-Broadway, he directed and choreographed the 20th-anniversary production of Boy Meets Boy.
Internationally, Bill Fabris directed A Little Sondheim Music and The Music of Leonard Bernstein at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain. He directed the European tours of Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, and choreographed the award-winning short film Boot Camp, which was featured at Sundance.
Originally from Wyoming, Richard Gordon has had a varied musical career that has ranged from opera in the Alaskan tundra to solo concerts in the jungles of Africa. As conductor/accompanist he has toured with Met diva Patricia Mussel and Jane Powell. He has been associated with such opera companies as Washington (D.C.) Opera, New Orleans Opera, Pusan (Korea) Grand Opera, St. Louis Opera, and Chautauqua Opera. Equally at home in music theater, Richard has conducted national tours and been associated with Goodspeed Opera, Playwrights Horizons, and Phillip Glass Ensemble.
Mary Lou Barber has frequently collaborated with director Bill Fabris, choreographing A Broadway Christmas for Westminster Choir College in 2003, Holiday Fanfare for Omaha Symphony in 2002 and 2003 and Of Thee I Sing and The Gondoliers with New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. She also assisted Bill in A Little Sondheim Music for Opera Liceu; Barcelona, Spain and several additional Gilbert and Sullivan productions.
Other choreographic credits include Oklahoma! for Augusta Opera, Patience and Trial By Jury for New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, Made In America, The Music of Irving Berlin for Muhlenberg Summer Theatre, and Rhapsody in Gershwin for Stamford TheatreWorks. Mary Lou also has a successful performing career, participating in national tours of Cats, 42nd Street, A Chorus Line and Sophisticated Ladies. Her regional and stock credits include Me and My Girl, My One and Only, and Singin’ in the Rain at Gateway Playhouse, Papermoon at Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.), Of Thee I Sing at Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.), Rhapsody in Gershwin at Stamford TheatreWorks (Connecticut) and Showtune and The Music of Jerry Herman at Riverside Theatre (Florida).
Tickets for these performances are $15 for adults and $10 for senior citizens and students. To order, call the Westminster box office weekdays between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at 609-921-2663.
