Rachel York and Haydn Gwynne to Join ANYTHING GOES West End; Performances Added

Broadway star Rachel York and Tony and Olivier nominee Haydn Gwynne will join the cast of critically acclaimed Anything Goes for the final weeks before the show must end on Saturday 6 November. However, due to phenomenal public demand for tickets, the "SHOW OF THE YEAR" (Daily Telegraph) has added two extra matinee performances on Wednesday 27 October and Wednesday 3 November.

ANYTHING GOES opened this summer at London's Barbican Theatre, audiences have been on their feet, giving this multi Tony Award winning show multiple standing ovations night after night. Described as the "musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another" (The Times) and is "delightful, delicious, and as buoyant as helium" (Evening Standard). Featuring a 50 strong cast and ensemble of the finest we have to offer on the London stage including tap dancing sailors and a full-sized live orchestra, this five star hit new production of Anything Goes "immediately joins the pantheon of great classic musical revivals" (The Telegraph). Anything Goes continues to play to sell out houses, as audiences flood through the Barbican Theatre doors to witness this truly spectacular musical comedy.

Broadway star Rachel York (Head Over Heels, Victor/Victoria) will reprise her acclaimed portrayal of Reno Sweeney (first performance 12 October) and Tony & Olivier nominee Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot - West End and Broadway, Camilla in Channel 4's The Windsors) will play Evangeline Harcourt (first performance 19 October). They will join Tony, Olivier & BAFTA Award Winner Robert Lindsay (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) as Moonface Martin and musical actor Gary Wilmot (Chicago) as Elisha Whitney who have been wowing audience since the show opened in July.

Producer Sir Howard Panter said: "I am delighted that Rachel York and Haydn Gwynne will be joining this glorious production of Cole Porter's classic musical. London audiences already cannot get enough of this joyous and uplifting great musical - so much so we have had to add extra shows to cope with the demand. Both Rachel and Haydn are wonderful actors and our audiences are in for a treat indeed when they join Robert Lindsay, Gary Wilmot and the rest of our hugely talented Anything Goes company, orchestra and crew".

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.

The musical also stars Samuel Edwards (Les Misérables / Wicked) as Billy Crocker, 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 and Carly Mercedes Dyer (West Side Story/Chicago) as Erma.

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. Anything Goes is set to sail away with audiences all over again.

★★★★★

'Makes you gasp in wonder and laugh till it hurts. Pure class.'

Daily Telegraph

★★★★★

'The show of the year. I would give it six stars if I could'

Daily Telegraph

★★★★★

'The musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another'

The Times

★★★★★

'When a musical packs this much energy and spectacle, nothing else goes!'

Daily Mail

★★★★★

'Bubbly wit and stylish fun. It shimmers and sparkles.'

The Times

★★★★★

'Anything Goes offers the delirious delight of a musical in full sail'

Financial Times

RACHEL YORK

Rachel is a dynamic and versatile actress most recently seen on Broadway in the musical Head Over Heels. Other Broadway theatre includes: City of Angels, Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria (Drama Desk Award) with Dame Julie Andrews, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sly Fox with Richard Dreyfuss, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Jonathan Pryce, and Disaster! The Musical created by Seth Rudetsky. Rachel played Reno Sweeney in Kathleen Marshall's Tony-award winning production of Anything Goes (Helen Hayes Award) on Broadway and the US National tour.

Other US national tours include Camelot (Carbonell Award) opposite Michael York as well as Kiss Me, Kate opposite Rex Smith. Rachel returned to the role of Kate for the West End production. Rachel played the dual roles of Edith Bouvier Beale and 'Little' Edie Beale in the Los Angeles production of Grey Gardens opposite Betty Buckley. Other highlights include, Putting It Together (Manhattan Theatre Club) also with Julie Andrews, Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center opposite LaChanze, Turn of the Century opposite Jeff Daniels directed by Tommy Tune at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and The Odd Couple with Jason Alexander and Martin Short.

Rachel has been a soloist worldwide including appearances with the New York Pops; the National Symphony under the direction of conductor Marvin Hamlisch; the Los Angeles Philharmonic; The Philly Pops; the San Francisco Symphony; the Jerusalem Philharmonic, and multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall.

Recent television appearances include recurring roles on Fox's Filthy Rich and CBS's FBI: Most Wanted. Rachel has also appeared on Prodigal Song, The Mick, Power, Elementary, Hannah Montana, Frasier, Reba, Numb3rs, Close to Home, Spin City, among many other film and television credits. She also turned heads on television with her courageous portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS movie, Lucy.

Rachel's album, Let's Fall in Love, was named one of the Top Ten Vocal CDs of the year by Talkin' Broadway.

HAYDN GWYNNE

Haydn Gwynne is a multi-award winning actor whose work spans the stage, television and film. She first came to prominence in the BBC adaptation of David Lodge's Nice Work in 1989, and Channel 4's Drop The Dead Donkey. Since then she has starred in series such as Peak Practice, Mersey Beat (for which she won Royal Television Society awards) and HBO's Rome, as well as guest-starring in shows including Sherlock, Ripper Street, Poirot, and the C Word. She was last seen as Matron in the BBC adaptation of David Walliams The Midnight Gang, and in her role as Camilla in Channel 4 comedy The Windsors. She has recently finished shooting The Canterville Ghost for BBC studios. On stage, Haydn is a four-time Olivier Award nominee for her performances in Billy Elliot the Musical (which she also performed on Broadway), City of Angels, The Threepenny Opera and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. She played Margaret Thatcher in The Audience with Helen Mirren, and Elizabeth In Richard III for the Old Vic and BAM New York, and has worked often for the RSC, most recently as Volumnia in Coriolanus in Stratford and the Barbican. She played Lady Wishfort in The Way of the World for the Donmar Warehouse, and before the pandemic, appeared at The Minerva Theatre, Chichester starring in Hedda Tesman, a new play updating and re-imagining Hedda Gabler 30 years into her marriage, followed by a new play for the National Theatre: The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood which opened a few weeks before the theatres were closed. Last year saw much recording of radio from her bedroom including reading Richard Osman's best seller 'The Thursday Murder Club' for Radio 4, but she was lucky to appear in a new play, Renaissance by Charles Ward, performed in the open air, followed by rehearsing Copenhagen for Bath Theatre Royal which was due to open the day of the November lockdown, but which finally got its run in Bath and on tour this summer.

CREATIVE TEAM

Kathleen Marshall - Director & Choreographer

Derek McLane - Set Designer

Jon Morrell - Costume Designer

Hugh Vanstone - Lighting Designer

Jonathan Deans - Sound Designer

Stephen Ridley - Music Supervisor