De Pere High School puts on ‘Anything Goes’

De Pere High School students are setting sail on stage in their production of Anything Goes, a 1934 musical comedy featuring music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

“It takes place right after the prohibition era, when gangsters and celebrities and high society social classes were all a big deal,” said Raquel Lopez, the show’s director. “Everybody boards the SS American, and on the boat they find out really quickly that anything goes there. There are no rules. Social class doesn’t really matter. Things get really bizarre. There’s a love triangle kind of thing going on and a lot of mistaken identity and gangster silliness happens on. On the ship, anything goes.”

“There’s truly just so much joy on stage,” said Lauren Powell, student director and choreographer. “There are so many good jokes. There’s so much stuff that’s so funny. I”m just so excited for people to see this show that’s not really well known and for them to enjoy it so much because it really is such a fun show.”

Throughout the rehearsal process, students have worked hard to learn how to portray a time period that is drastically different from their own.

“Because it’s a 1930s show, we really spend a lot of time focusing on stylistically appropriate choices — having 1930s choreography and dance moves for people to use, what kind of props they would use or costumes they would wear,” Lopez said. “Everythign is really based in the time period, so a lot of effort and research has gone into that.”

“This is so different from a modern-day musical like Mean Girls or just a show based in a high school like Grease,” said Stella Kurkowski, who plays Reno Sweeney in the show. “It’s been challenging to really step into the 1930s and what they would do in the 1930s or how they would act in the 1930s. It really has been a journey.”

The show also features a different style of music than many modern shows, resulting in demanding choreography.

“Cole Porter’s style in music is to go on and on,” Lopez said. “A lot of these songs are almost five minutes long and we did very minimal cuts throughout the show. We want to keep people entertained for that full five minutes and we put a lot of effort into keeping the momentum going.”

“A big challenge on the choreography side was teaching the cast how to tap dance,” Powell said. “We have a five-minute tap number at the end of the first act and it was definitely a challenge because we didn’t have many tappers to begin with. We had to start at the basics and then we built up to synchronized, choreographed numbers… I really hope [audiences] enjoy the choreography. We put so much time into it — so much time cleaning, so much time teaching — and I’m just so proud of how it all turned out.”

In all, 110 De Pere students played a part in bringing this show to life, from acting on stage to taking the lead in stage management, lights, sound and more.

“All of these people who are part of this show have put their blood, sweat and tears into the show,” Kurkowski said. “I just really hope [audiences] enjoy it and they see all the little stuff that happens on stage, not just the big picture. I hope they see the little interactions with each other and I hope they love all the big ensemble songs and everything.”