Silliness at Sea at LTOB

Silliness at sea: Ship passengers disguise themselves in ‘Anything Goes' at LTOB

NORTH BEND - Imagine a romance aboard a trans-Atlantic cruise ship between a stowaway and a woman in an arranged engagement to someone else.

Only the boat doesn't sink, and the music is a far cry from Celine Dion.

And with a propensity for dressing up in ridiculous, paper-thin disguises that nonetheless fool everyone, the stowaway is more like “Scooby Doo” than the one-time “king of the world.”

It's Cole Porter's “Anything Goes,” opening tonight at Little Theatre on the Bay in North Bend. The show is directed by Byrell Justice and the music is provided by the Little Ole Big Band, led by Steve Simpkins.

As the boat prepares to depart, Billy Crocker (Alexander Rich) discovers a number of people he knows boarding. He's seeing off his boss, broker Elisha J. Whitney (George Nixon), when he runs into Reno Sweeny (Cassie Justice), a nightclub singer who is a minor celebrity and friend of Billy.

But he doesn't take seriously her invitation to come along until he sees Hope Harcourt (Amelia Edd) and learns she is on her way to England to marry Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Tim Novotny). There was only a one-night meeting between Billy and Hope, but it was enough to convince him to try to win her back.

Luckily, he meets Moonface Martin (Byrell Justice), a gangster masquerading as missionary Dr. Moon, and his friend Bonnie (Anna Weidemiller), who supply Billy with the passport and ticket of another gangster who didn't show up. In addition to getting him on the boat, they and Reno help him with both keeping hidden - from his boss, Hope's mother (Yvonne Frey), the purser (Jim Kemp) and anyone else who could be a problem - and keeping Hope and Evelyn apart.

Billy has little trouble reconnecting with Hope when no one else is around, but that's rarely the case.

After the purser learns the alias Billy is borrowing belongs to notorious gangster Snake Eyes Johnson, Billy disguises himself as a sailor. While this sets him up to be constantly interrupted for grunt assignments, the real sailors (Jesus Torres, Bo Justice, Anthony Slaight and Bob Berry) have much less trouble shirking their duties to participate in frequently occurring dance numbers.

The dances provide a spectacle, particularly with Reno - a role designed to be a show-stealer - and her Angels (Doris Smith, Mindy Freeman, Alyssa Birrer and Camille Deming) with matching curly blonde wigs. At a rehearsal Monday, Cassie Justice managed to convert a wardrobe malfunction when her microphone pack fell out into part of her routine, twirling it by the cord.

While Billy tries to sneak moments with Hope, Reno uses her wiles to occupy Evelyn, whom she finds genuinely appealing. Though he's a fan of Reno, Evelyn is too clueless to interpret her advances.

As Billy moves from disguise to disguise, eventually he gets caught - as Snake Eyes - but the captain (Herb Yussim) is delighted to have a celebrity on board, even America's most wanted. But the freedom that comes with his new status doesn't help things with Hope, so he confesses he's not really a criminal, and that lands him in the brig, along with Moon.

As Evelyn and Hope find it increasingly difficult to feign interest in each other, Mrs. Harcourt takes advantage of Billy's detainment by moving up the wedding. At that point, things are bad enough for Billy that a dramatic turnaround must be on the way.

The cast also includes Jim Thorton, Josh Jennings, Kevin Goss, Randy Hines, Kay Pace, Cassie Dillon, Breeann Loya, Jaden Justice, Skye Gilbreth, Melissa Freeman and Quinlyn Deming. The band includes Dustin Dillon, Judy Snyder, Josh Ward, Wilber Jensen, Steve Krajcir, Steve Moon, vocal director Janice Kendall, Bill Harsh, Kurt Schab and Trevor Edd.

The show runs through May 20. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays beginning May 6. Tickets are $12, $10 for students and seniors, $8 for children and $6 for mothers on Mother's Day, with other discounts available under the family plan.