MILLSTONE – Students at the Millstone Township Middle School are getting ready to ship out for a production of the popular musical “Anything Goes.”
“Anything Goes” will be performed March 2 and March 3 at 7 p.m. and March 4 at 2 p.m. at the Millstone Performing Arts Center in the Millstone Township Middle School, 5 Dawson Ct. Tickets are $8 for students, and $9 for adults who purchase in advance and $10 at the door. Advance tickets may be purchased online at www.millstoneperformingarts.com
“Anything Goes” is set on a cruise ship in the 1920s and depicts comedic and romantic events that occur among the passengers as the ship travels from New York to London.
Eighth-grader Briana San Philips portrays wealthy heiress Hope Harcourt.
“Hope Harcourt is getting married to Evelyn Oakleigh, but she’s in love with Billy Crocker,” Briana said. “I’m too young to understand the problems she’s going through, but like her, I get annoyed when people aren’t telling me the whole truth.”
Portraying Billy Crocker is eighth-grader Jacob Normand, who views his character as “immature.”
“He can be mature, but most of the time he’s immature,” Jacob said. “He jokes around a lot with Hope and wears costumes. He doesn’t pay attention and understand what should be obvious to him, but he’s definitely in love with Hope.”
Jacob said he sees similarities between himself and Billy.
“I also like to joke around and have fun, but he’s a little more immature,” he said.
Sneaking on board the ship like Billy is Moonface Martin, portrayed by sixth-grader Mark Cagnetta.
“Moonface is a gangster, but he’s not very good at his job,” Mark said. “He should be brave and sneaky, but he’s scared to do what he’s doing and he’s afraid of being caught. But he helps Billy, he tries to help Billy from not getting caught and tries to cheer him up.”
Joining Moonface is Bonnie, played by eighth-grader Ellie Mashkevich.
“Bonnie is an airhead, but she’s also a little bit of a genius,” Ellie said. “She’s the mastermind behind Moonface’s plan to keep Billy on the ship.”
Ellie said she and Bonnie share a similar personality.
“We’re both a little crazy,” she said. “Bonnie’s personality is crazy and she’s crazy in the way she talks and moves, but she’s also a little more crazy than I am. So I get to go overboard when playing her.”
Eighth-grader Emma Morris is portraying nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, a longtime friend of Billy’s.
“Reno is the biggest star on the ship,” Emma said. “She’s very confident and becomes the center of attention when she enters a room. She will tell you if you have a problem with her and will get involved in anything. She’s also very close with Billy and Moonface and helps them out.”
Emma, who has been singing since she was 6 years old, sees many similarities between herself and Reno.
“We’re both outgoing, confident and love to sing,” Emma said.
As the wealthy Englishman and Hope’s fiancee, Evelyn Oakley is played by seventh-grader Aidan McGovern.
“He’s really rich and boards the ship to get married,” Aidan said. “But he’s clueless and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He doesn’t think and he uses American phrases wrong.”
Aidan finds playing Evelyn to be an enjoyable experience.
“I like things to be precise, but for him, anything goes,” he said. “He’s really loose. He’s also really funny and a lot of fun to play.”
To help prepare for his character’s English accent, Aidan said he listened to broadcasts of BBC News from England.
Also taking on a comic role is eighth-grader Zak Kheder, who portrays Billy’s boss, Elisha J. Whitney.
“Whitney is very stern and very bossy,” said Zak. “Moonface steals his glasses so he can’t see and I get to pretend to be clueless as comic relief. At one point, he thinks a chair is a dead body.”
Hope’s mother, Mrs. Harcourt, who wants to see her daughter get married, is played by eighth-grader Tara Wenger.
“She tries to be serious because she has a high position in society and she tries to keep her daughter in line,” Tara said.
Tara described how she and Mrs. Harcourt are similar, but not quite the same.
“I also try to keep control and keep things logical,” she said. “But she’s more stone-faced and I can be more flexible than her.”
The ship’s captain is played by seventh-grader Eric Iannaccone, who said his character “is a very stereotypical captain. He’s serious, collected and not a funny person like Billy. He’s a naval person and he salutes a lot. Like him, I have a serious attitude, but I’m not like the military part of him.”
“Anything Goes” has two featured tap dancers, portrayed by seventh-grader Nicole Rubino and eighth-grader Olivia Stauder.
“We get the crowd pumped up,” Nicole said.
Both young ladies began tap dancing at an early age, with Nicole tap dancing since she was 3 and Olivia tap dancing since she was 2.
“I like being able to make music with my feet,” Nicole said.
“You can make tap dancing your own,” Olivia said. “It’s such an unique form of dancing.”
The cast of “Anything Goes” also includes Gavin Elwell as the ship’s purser, Keith Colazzo as the ship’s steward, Brayden Reyes and Patrick McManus as sailors, Ian Ionescu as Bishop Henry T. Dobson, Melissa Bernieri and Emily Hamnett as Ching and Ling, and Alexa Oliveira, Francesca Curreri, Gianna Giacolona, Janelle Guzman, Abbie Nazario, Angelina Villalva, Allie Solitario, and Sarah Cox as dancers.
“Anything Goes” is directed by Lisamarie Cappuzzo, with musical direction by Heather Philhower. Karen Shaffer is the assistant director. The sets are designed by Frank Inglesias and choreography is by Aimee Lane.
The student stage managers are eighth-graders Samson Uveges, Giuseppe Scibilia and Isabella Castellucci.
“Being a stage manager is a lot of stress with making sure things go in order, but I enjoy the responsibility given to me,” said Samson.
“Being a stage manager is sometimes busy and sometimes chill,” said Giuseppe, who is serving as a stage manager for the fifth time. “There’s just something about it I enjoy.”
“It can be stressful, but really fun,” said Isabella. “It’s fun seeing everything come together and it’s fun to learn the songs and music.”