‘Anything Goes’ at Modern CdA finds the right cast for an evening of fun

There are roles that actors are born to play, fictional characters fitted to a performer’s particular skills like a well-tailored suit.

Count Reno Sweeney as this kind of role for Spokane actress/director/cabaret singer Abbey Crawford.

As the evangelist/nightclub singer in the classic 1934 musical “Anything Goes,” now on the small stage at the Modern Theater Coeur d’Alene, Crawford puts her cabaret training to good use. She puts her stamp on some of the greatest works in the Great American Songbook: “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” and the title song. It’s a role originated on Broadway by Ethel Merman, and performed more recently by Patti LuPone and Sutton Foster. Crawford more than holds her own among such illustrious company.

The Coeur d’Alene production, directed by Brooke Kiener, is well cast from top to bottom. Jeremy Whittington as the gangster Moonface Martin, Kayla Mueller as the gangster’s moll Erma, and Dan Baumer as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh all prove to be adept comedians. Baumer, who works for the Modern as a photographer, was especially delightful as the “upper-class twit” of the piece.

Caitlin McLennan as Hope is sweetly innocent and packs a lovely voice. Brendan Brady, a familiar face on the Modern stage, brings his nice tenor to Billy, the hero of the piece.

The story is a vintage screwball romantic comedy. A boy, Billy, is infatuated with a girl, Hope, who is about to marry an English lord because her family lost their money in the stock market crash. She’s setting sail for England with her mother and fiancé. Also on board is Eli Whitney (Kelly Hauenstein), Billy’s boss on Wall Street, and Reno Sweeney and her four backup singers, her “Angels.” Reno is sweet on Billy, but Billy only has eyes for Hope. When Billy gets a chance to stow away, with the help of Martin, he takes it, and this shipboard farce sets sail for all kinds of comedic situations – mistaken identities included.

I mentioned the stage at the Modern Coeur d’Alene is small. That doesn’t stop them from staging big musicals with big casts, including “Les Miserables” and “Rock of Ages” recently. “Anything Goes” certainly is in that category. At one point, there are more than a couple of dozen performers on that stage, tap dancing up a storm. Kiener and choreographer Heidy Cartwright have figured out how to pack ’em up there and keep them moving to great effect.

Overall, “Anything Goes” was a rollicking good time. One part, however, proved troublesome.

When performing older works, contemporary theater companies have an obligation to understand that what was funny to audiences in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s might not be so funny today. The conclusion of the piece is set in motion when Moonface Martin and Billy dress as Chinese passengers and set out to break up the wedding of Evelyn and Hope. On Friday night, Brady put on a bad Chinese accent and called it good. Whittington went further, jutting out his top teeth and scrunching up his eyes – reminiscent of Mickey Rooney’s ghastly and racist performance of the Japanese neighbor in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” It was the one bad decision in an otherwise solid production.

Obviously the play is written how it’s written, and performers have to stay true to the text. But they certainly have the freedom to interpret things in a more sensitive way; when they have an opportunity to avoid embracing a racial stereotype, I would suggest they do it.