Press room

Due to phenomenal demand for tickets, the smash hit ‘show of the year’ Anything Goes has added three extra weeks to its Barbican residency and will now open on 25 June and play for 10 weeks until 3 September.

The critically acclaimed show features a new star cast including: WhatOnStage Award Winner Kerry Ellis (Wicked/We Will Rock You) as Reno Sweeney and Olivier Award Winner Denis Lawson (Bleak House/New Tricks) as Moonface Martin. Joining them on board is Olivier Award Winner Simon Callow (Four Weddings & A Funeral / Amadeus) as Elisha Whitney and Musical Theatre Royalty Bonnie Langford (EastEnders / 9 to 5) as Evangeline Harcourt. As well as its triumphant return to the Barbican, this glorious musical will also be visiting theatres in Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Dublin and Manchester this spring.

Anything Goes has garnered an incredible nine nominations at this year’s Olivier Awards including Best Musical Revival, Best Director, Best Theatre Choreography, Best Costume Design and Best New Orchestration. Plus a further four nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a musical. Anything Goes has already won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Musical Revival as voted for by the public.

Last year Anything Goes smashed multiple Box Office records at the Barbican Theatre including the single highest grossing performance week for a musical in the Barbican’s 39-year history and the highest sales across a weekend for a musical, as audiences flooded through the doors for the 15-week sold out season!

It was therefore no surprise that last year’s summer season of Anything Goes saw audiences on their feet night after night, giving this multi–Tony Award winning show multiple standing ovations. This spectacular show has been described as the “musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another” (The Times) and “delightful, delicious, and as buoyant as helium” (Evening Standard).

Producer Sir Howard Panter said: “We are delighted to announce a three-week extension of the award-winning Anything Goes at the Barbican this summer. The appetite from London audiences for this show is undeniable, so to be able to extend the run before we have even opened is a joy. With an outstanding principal cast and ensemble of the finest, including tap dancing sailors and a full-sized live orchestra, Anything Goes is musical theatre at its best. We are also delighted to take this majestic show to audiences across the UK for the first time, so they can enjoy the glorious set design, breathtaking choreography and stage direction, and of course the wonderful score!”

Reprising their co-starring roles in this year’s UK tour and Barbican season are Samuel Edwards (Les Misérables / Wicked) as Billy Crocker, Carly Mercedes Dyer (A Chorus Line / The Color Purple) as Erma (for which she won a WhatsOnStage Award this year), Nicole-Lily Baisden (The Book of Mormon / Let’s Face The Music) as Hope Harcourt, Haydn Oakley (A Christmas Carol / An American in Paris) as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh.

The supporting cast includes: Carl Au as Luke, Trev Neo as John, Clive Hayward as Ship's Captain and Cornelius Clarke as Ship's Purser. Ensemble includes: Jessica Buckby, Natalie Chua, Eamonn Cox, Jacob Fisher, Selina Hamilton, Maddie Harper, Eu Jin Hwang, David Kar-Hing Lee, Billie-Kay, Sammy Kelly, Anna McGarahan, Perry O'Dea, Tom Partridge, Christopher Short, Jack Wilcox and Alexandra Wright.  And Swings Josh Barnett, George Beet, Gabrielle Cocca and Emily Ormiston.

From spring 2022, the hilarious sold-out musical sensation returns giving audiences across the country the chance to enjoy the truly spectacular, multi-Tony Award winning, “show of the year!” (★★★★★ Daily Telegraph), as the S.S American will be heading to theatres in Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Dublin and Manchester on its way to the Barbican!

Anything Goes has music and lyrics by Cole Porter, an original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton with Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse and a new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman. This production is directed and choreographed by three time Tony Award Winner Kathleen Marshall.

When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love... proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, a comical disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. This hilarious musical romp across the Atlantic featuring a collection of some of theatre’s most memorable songs - including ‘I Get A Kick Out of You’, ‘Anything Goes’, ‘You’re the Top’, ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’, ‘It’s De-Lovely’, ‘Friendship’ and ‘Buddie Beware’ - will take you back to the Golden Age of high society on the seas.

Heralded as “The antidote to everything” (The Guardian) and “The Spectacle of the Year” (The Times) Anything Goes is set to sail away with audiences all over again and is destined to be the definitive feel-good production of 2022.