Anything Goes / YMMV

Adaptation Displacement: The 1987 revision is almost always performed instead of the original book. This also goes for the 1962 version, which, while more enduring than the original, has been totally overshadowed by the 1987. For evidence of this, notice how nearly every one of the version specific tropes on this site are pertaining to the most recent version.
Adorkable: Evelyn absolutely counts. He moves about the ship with the energy, enthusiasm, and goofiness of a puppy. The show itself acknowledges this with Reno laughing over his horrible, yet giddy use of American phrases while unabashedly calling it cute.
Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Evangeline quite obviously only accepts Eli's proposal due to his money. Is Eli truly ignorant of this or does he know and just not care? Supporting the former view, he's fallen victim to his fair share of tricks throughout the show. Supporting the latter view, his whole proposal was based around offering Evangeline financial comfort, showing he's at least somewhat aware of what she really desires. And it's worth noting, he occasionally showed an awareness that something was off with earlier hijinks, so it can be assumed he could've known what's going on without vocalizing it here.
- Both of the Chinese converts are thrown into the brig by the Purser. Luke is understandable because he's caught gambling and fleecing the other passengers' money, but John is slightly more innocent in that throughout the show, he's trying his hardest not to give into his old sin of drinking and ratting out Luke's gambling to Moonface. It's quite possible that the only reason John is arrested is because the Purser is secretly^note or not-so-secretly, as it is the 1930s racist and assumes John is an accomplice.
Alternative Joke Interpretation: When Erma tells Moonface he's been passed as a public enemy by tooth decay, is she just insulting him or did that truly happen?
Ass Pull: Evelyn's gypsy heritage. Excused due to Rule of Funny and Awesome Music.
Award Snub: The 2011 revival, often considered to have the show's best cast, only got acting nominations for Sutton Foster and Adam Godley, with Colin Donnell, Laura Osnes, John McMartin, and Joel Grey being ignored by the Tonys.
Awesome Music: It’s a Cole Porter musical. What did you expect?
- “Anything Goes” is such an awesome song that the show’s named after it. Special mention goes to the famous tap dance break.
- “Blow Gabriel Blow” gives Reno the opportunity to belt her face off and by God is it glorious. The song is so good that every character, regardless of their current happiness, joyfully joins in, singing and dancing their hearts out.
- “Friendship” is both a comedic and musical high point. While it’s a fairly simple number, seeing Reno and Moonface engage in Ham-to-Ham Combat never fails to please the audience.
- “It’s Delovely” is a lively, romantic duet, with sweet lyrics and joyful energy.
- “Gypsy in Me” is an unexpectedly exotic number where Evelyn gets to let loose and engage in a hilarious tango.
- “You’re the Top” is an expertly executed Pep-Talk Song that gets the toes tapping.
- “I Get a Kick Out of You” is a beautiful romantic ballad that instantly causes Reno to steal the audience’s heart.
Base-Breaking Character: Of the show’s two leads, while Reno is quite loved, Billy is more divisive. Some find him likable and enjoy his romantic numbers and the comical situations he ends up in, while others think he’s an Unintentionally Unsympathetic Vanilla Protagonist who takes the spotlight away from the much more entertaining lead. In general though, when played by a strong actor, Billy will be well received, and it's only when a poorer performer takes over that his characterization becomes an issue.
Covered Up:
- "De-Lovely" in its pure ear worm form is actually from another musical. In turn, "Anything Goes" was covered in Chinese in the opening to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
- Non-musical theater types may be more familiar with "I Get a Kick Out of You" from its appearance in Blazing Saddles as the song the black railworkers sing.
Crowning Moment Of Funny:
- "A jolly good romp in the rice".
- "I think of you, and time stands still. Your face alone could stop a clock!"
- Moonface's speech at the service in the 1962 version.
- Gypsy in Me is a truly hilarious crowd pleaser. Especially when it’s in the hands of Adam Godley and Sutton Foster.
Crosses the Line Twice: Probably the only reason the Chinese impersonations have managed to stay in the show this long, as they're so ridiculously over the top in their offensiveness.
Designated Hero: Billy’s goal to chase the love of his life is definitely sympathetic, but he goes about it by repeatedly harassing her along with her mother (and her dog), her fiancée, his boss, and the entire crew of the ship. His treatment of Evelyn is particularly mean spirited, as he repeatedly insults and schemes against a Nice Guy who’s only crime is being engaged to Hope.
- Moonface is a Lovable Rogue, but that doesn’t mean he’s not guilty of everything that Billy does, and has zero qualms about murdering innocent people. Thankfully he’s a Harmless Villain.
- Both of them alongside Reno earn their happy ending by assaulting a Chinese convert and scamming another to steal their clothes, and then win the day by doing racist impersonations of Chinese people. This is all played for laughs, though more recent updates to the script make the impersonations more palatable.
Ensemble Dark Horse: With the right actors, Moonface and Evelyn can steal the show. To elaborate on their fan favorite status:
- Moonface earns his for being a Deadpan Snarker, Lovable Rogue, Harmless Villain, and Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- Evelyn earns his for being an Upper-Class Twit, a Cloud Cuckoolander, and an all around Adorkable Nice Guy.
Ethnic Scrappy: The Chinese characters have been criticized for being rather stereotypical before the 2021 version updated them to downplay their stereotypes. Of course, any complaints about Luke and John were overshadowed by the complaints surrounding the white characters doing an even more stereotypical depiction of them in the final scene.
Fair for Its Day: Believe it or not, the 1987/2011 version is actually an improvement in terms of Asian representation, as Luke and John were originally even more stereotypical and named Ching and Ling.
First Installment Wins: Averted. There are three versions of this show and the first is the least popular and not performed today. The second has its fans, but the third has emerged as the most popular and the next major revival, while not without a few alterations, was mostly the same show, helping to establish this reputation.
Ho Yay: There's a little bit between Billy and Moonface; some productions take it up to eleven for "Be Like The Bluebird" and end the song with Moonface jumping into Billy's arms.
- There’s also Evelyn telling Moonface “I’ve got hot pants for you”.
- Eli mistakes both Moonface and the purser for Evangeline. He says the former looks ravishing and proposes to the latter.
Jerkass Woobie: Reno is rude and cocky, but she also comes across as a bit lovesick and is forced to see the guy she wants go after a girl who repeatedly rejects him.
- Billy does his fair share of morally questionable things throughout the show, but between getting into some unpleasant hijinks and getting denied repeatedly by the woman he loves, his position doesn’t look enviable. Especially bad is when he falls into a depression when he thinks he blew his chance.
- Moonface is clearly not a good guy, but the man’s got some really, really bad luck and most people seem to view him as a joke.
Padding: “Buddie Beware” is a perfectly fine song, but it comes right near the end of the show, and adds nothing to the plot. This is especially noticeable in the 2011 revival. Much like many of the other numbers, its dance break was expanded, which caused the Superfluous Solo to drag the final scene on even longer than it already does.
Questionable Casting:
- While Moonface has been played by older actors to strong results, a few people thought the nearly 80-year-old Joel Grey was pushing it in the 2011 revival.
- Also in the 2011 revival, Sutton Foster playing Reno initially had some backlash with complaints that she was too much of a fresh-faced Ingenue for the part. Once the production started, though, most detractors were silenced.
- Megan Mullally was originally planned to headline the 2021 revival as Reno, which confused many given the role seemed outside of Mullally's wheelhouse, not to mention complaints of her being too old and not being a strong enough dancer. Ultimately, though, an injury caused her to leave the production before it started, and Sutton Foster instead reprised the role.
Romantic Plot Tumor: While Billy and Hope’s romance is the driving force of the show’s plot, many don’t find them to be too interesting or likable as a couple due to Billy constantly harassing her and Hope repeatedly going back and forth on her feelings. Because of this, you’ll often see them being overshadowed by Reno and the more lively supporting cast who get perform more energetic and upbeat numbers in comparison to Billy and Hope’s mostly downbeat love songs.
- Despite not getting as much coverage, Reno and Evelyn’s romance is actually more popular due to staying more consistent with the rest of the show’s fun and silly nature, and the two of them getting along way more consistently than the constantly bickering Billy and Hope.
The Scrappy: While Hope isn't universally hated, it’s not uncommon for audiences to find her unlikable due to her "Stop Having Fun" Guys attitude, constantly going back and forth on whether or not she wants to be with Billy, and for having very little in the way of jokes in a an otherwise light-hearted comedy filled with them.
- Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Laura Osnes’ performance as Hope in the 2011 Broadway revival redeemed the role for some. Osnes was praised for making the most of the part, showing Hope as a Nice Girl who’s torn between following her heart and doing her family duty. Hope’s expanded role in the show’s music also helped, giving Osnes more time to show off her singing and dancing skills compared to previous actresses who played the part.
Signature Song: The titular number. “Blow Gabriel Blow” is another contender. “Friendship” is also quite popular, although it was originally written for another Porter show, Du Barry Was a Lady.
Stoic Woobie: As detailed above, Moonface gets it pretty bad throughout the show. Despite all this he still shows an idealistic side to him, and is willing to brush off several of his inconveniences.
Superfluous Solo:
- In a show where a lot of numbers don't exactly affect the plot "Buddie Beware" still stands out as as having no narrative impact, seemingly only being there to give Erma a solo. This makes its placement as the second to last song quite odd, especially because it could've been snuck in at an earlier point without too much in the way of revising.
- While nowhere near as noticeable, Moonface's solo "Be Like The Bluebird" also counts. There is a reason for it in the story, as Moon is trying to cheer up Billy, but the way he doesn't even comment on it or show any reaction pushes it into this trope.
- Hope's solo "Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye" somewhat falls into this too. Though it impacts character and is linked to the overall story, it's still somewhat redundant given Hope sings another similarly sad song just one scene later, only that time accompanied by others.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- A common complaint is that Hope isn’t an interesting character. Early on in the show, Reno builds Hope up as a debutante who “came out on a zeppelin and chases foxes on the cover of Life”. Despite this description making her sound adventurous and exciting, the character in actuality comes across as more of a buzzkill. She's also the only main character who's mostly lacking in jokes, which is unfortunate since everyone else's dialogue is packed with them.
- While she does have her own impact on the plot and is a decently sized role, Erma is much more detached from the plot than all the other principal characters, and even the clearly smaller roles of the Captain and Purser have a more consistent impact on the narrative. Her own solo number, while fun, is clearly only there to give the actress her own big moment.
Tough Act to Follow: “Goodbye Little Dream Goodbye” is the first song to follow the showstopper that is “Blow Gabriel Blow”. This means that Hope’s solo inevitably gets overshadowed by the huge production number that played earlier. It wouldn’t be quite as noticeable if it wasn’t for them being in the exact same scene.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
- Billy due to the reasons listed under Designated Hero, and Hope for her Wangst and constantly flip-flopping over whether she wants to be with Billy or not.
- Both Reno and Moonface alongside Billy can count since they win the day by stealing the clothes of two people who never wronged them and doing racist impressions.
Values Dissonance:
- The line "Some get a kick from cocaine" in "I Get A Kick Out Of You" was written before it was illegal. It had to be changed to champagne in the film adaptation.
- The Asian Speekee Engrish bit in the finale. Good Lord. It took some time, but it's finally seen some major changes in the last revival where the racial stereotypes are downplayed and the actual Chinese characters play along rather than just being the butt of others' jokes.
- For the first London production in 1935, P. G. Wodehouse was asked to write some new lyrics for "You're the Top." One of his contributions (for which Cole Porter is sometimes Mis-blamed) was "You're Mussolini!"
- Evelyn's Romani heritage, while a very minor part of the overall show, is very reliant on stereotypes in its potrayal. The outdated-at-best term "gypsy" is used exclusively, including in the title of his solo. He refers to this heritage as "the Oakleigh family secret" and describes it as "something dark and savage in our blood,"^note making him transform from a dorky Englishman to a passionate, romantic, exotic lover, a la the Hot Gypsy Woman trope, only gender-inverted and Played for Laughs.
Vanilla Protagonist: Billy’s a lot less interesting compared to his co-lead Reno.
Wangst: Hope is guilty of this, as a lot of her dialogue consists of her whining about both her Arranged Marriage and Billy’s courtship of her. Even her solos, excluding “It’s Delovely” and the finale, are drenched in Wangst.
What Does She See in Him?: This occurs a bit throughout:
- Despite Billy being fairly ordinary and Reno being anything but, she starts off the show madly in love with him. Her pairing with Evelyn is a better fit since he has a bigger personality and is shown to be able to get on Reno’s level.
- Despite Reno pining after him, Billy falls in love with the much less interesting Hope, who repeatedly rejects his advances. This also goes for Hope, still being in love with a man who does some rather shady things throughout the show.
- Eli loves Evangeline despite her rather contemptible personality to the point where he proposes marriage twice before they’ve even gone on a legitimate date. Even when it's made clear that she's only into him for his money, he either doesn't notice, or doesn't care.
The Woobie:
- Sure, she whines a lot, but Hope doesn’t do so without good reasons. She’s in love with Billy, but is being forced to marry Evelyn, something she’s not happy about, but willing to do in order to help her family pull through in tough financial times. Then Billy shows up on the boat, things just get worse, as her fiancé, mother, and herself are repeatedly harassed by him. Despite this, she still loves him, but can’t find the strength to defy her emotionally manipulative mother. She only truly realizes her feelings for him once it all seems too late, causing Hope to lose all hope.
- Under normal circumstance, Evelyn would be this. Despite being a genuinely Nice Guy, Billy, Reno, Moonface repeatedly harass him and try to break up his engagement. However, he’s just so happy and unassuming that almost all of their attempts to do so leave him completely unbothered. Not only that, but they actually end up making him happier, as it results in him and Reno falling for each other, with them being a much better fit together than he was with Hope. Though Evelyn can count as an actual example during the brief time when he's broken up on the day before his wedding when he realizes he's with the wrong person.
- John is rather pitiable. Unlike Luke, he truly tries to resist his prior addiction and is terrified at sinning again when left without the minister. He then winds up in the brig due to Luke's gambling. His clear sadness there is then cut short when he's knocked out for trying to stop Reno, Billy, and Moonface from stealing his clothes.

YMMV / Anything Goes

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