Anything Goes
Chrystal Nelson
The weekend of March 31, April 1-2 brought a sensational musical to the DSU students. “Anything Goes,” took place at the Prairie Playhouse and had a growing audience within the three day period. Much of the audience had nothing but good words to say as to how the play went and many compliments were awarded to the comedy of the play as well as the star of the show: Donna Rice who played Reno.
For those who have never heard of “Anything Goes,” it is a comical musical set in the 30s and takes place on a ship going towards Europe. There are stowaways, romance, public enemies who try to hide their identities, lords and debutantes and clever comments that will leave the audience in an uproar of laughter.
Of course such an outstanding musical did not appear overnight. Hours and weeks were spent in preparation of the production. In fact, some practices lasted from 6 PM until close to 11 PM at night. Add two full weekends of building the set and students had a full load. It’s amazing how everyone involved in the play could juggle their schedules between working, classes and yet still be able to dedicate themselves to such an entertaining play.
Kelly Macleod did a sensational job in directing “Anything Goes,” and Sandy Champion was the musical director for the live orchestra. Both ladies worked very hard and much longer than the students in order to make a success out of the show. There was much research involved in order for Kelly to create the feel of the 30s.
A critic from Mt. Marty College even left the show with good comments. He was quite surprised at how quickly the show was put together, and even complimented the music before the show began and during intermission. His comment was that he had never been to a show where music was played before the show to set the mood and it was quite entertaining.
There were mixed emotions when the play was finally over and much of the actors didn’t want to believe it was all over. However; all good things must come to an end but there will always be the memories that were created while performing in such a show. “Anything Goes” will be the talk of the theatre at DSU for many months to come. In the meantime, “Bon Voyage!”
