The Blue Hill Troupe Kicks Off 100th Anniversary Season With ANYTHING GOES

The Blue Hill Troupe, New York City’s only philanthropic musical theater group, will kick off its 100th Anniversary season with “Anything Goes,” Cole Porter’s classic musical comedy of mismatched lovers, bumbling gangsters, and heavenly high jinks on the high seas. Performances will run Nov. 3-11 at The Theatre at St. Jean’s, 184 East 76th St.

With a book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman (adapted from the original, by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse), the show features beloved Porter tunes like “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Friendship,” “It’s De-lovely,” and of course “Anything Goes.” The iconic central role of nightclub evangelist Reno Sweeney, originated by Ethel Merman, has been interpreted by some of the greatest leading ladies of musical theater. Rashidra Scott, a two-time Reno Sweeney and Broadway veteran (Company, Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Sister Act, and more), will attend the Blue Hill Troupe’s production on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 2:00 pm and give a talk-back following the performance.

Every year the Blue Hill Troupe donates its net proceeds—from two fully staged productions, one Gilbert & Sullivan operetta and one musical theater piece, plus a concert series—to a New York City-based charity. Since its inception in 1924, the troupe has donated over $12 million (adjusted for inflation) to its charity partners. Proceeds from the 2023-24 centennial season will benefit the Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC), an award-winning multicultural youth chorus founded and directed by Francisco J. Nuñez, a MacArthur Fellow and Musical America’s 2018 Educator of the Year.

The Blue Hill Troupe’s production of Anything Goes is directed and choreographed by Gary Slavin, assistant directed and assistant choreographed by Janet Bushor, and music directed by Alex Ngo. The cast features Luisa Boyaggi, Paul Mitchell Wilder, Julia Farina, Ken Harmon, Erik Hanson, Emily Ruderman, Neal Young*, Cornelia Iredell, Alison Plotkin, Andrew Roberts, Geoff Gaebe, Michael Macaione*, Sabrina Karlin, Casey Keeler, Capron Levine, and Conway McGrath, with an ensemble rounded out by David Baxter, Dena Cubbin, Amy Cerullo, Matt Berry, Leslie Middlebrook Moore*, Rachel Naugle, Maria Plantilla, David Pohler, Dan Rosenbaum, and Abby Shuppy. (*Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.)

Performance schedule: Nov. 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 at 7:30 pm; Nov. 5 at 3:00 pm, and Nov. 11 at 2:00 pm. Ticket prices range from $45-100 (with payment in excess of $20 per ticket tax deductible to the extent provided by law). Discounts are available for groups of 12 or more. Tickets can be purchased at https://bht.org/events/anything-goes/

For more information about the Blue Hill Troupe, please visit www.bht.org, Facebook.com/BHT.org and @BlueHillTroupe.

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