Go back and read part 1 if you havent already
Midun Odunaiya (Dance ensemble)
Day 5: Saturday 6 January
By Saturday it was a case of going over and learning the final bits of choreography for numbers such as ‘Buddy beware’, ‘Bon voyage’ and ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’. A very dance-heavy day, but our choreographer Rhyen Hunt and dance captains, Joe Butler-Smith and Mia Shambrook helped ease the day.
After dinner we had our sitzprobe, where the band and cast meet and run through every number. Words simply can’t describe how unreal this experience was. The band was full of extremely talented musicians, with people playing between 1 – 3 different instruments throughout the run. It was such a supportive atmosphere, with everyone cheering for the band and cast whenever a song was finished. It’s hard to explain how different singing with a live band feels, opposed to just a piano. It only made us more excited for the actual show, where we’d get to do it again.
Day 6: Sunday 7 January
Sunday finished off a very long, tiring, but ultimately memorable week. We started off the day by blocking the overture and the duet ‘All through the night’. Following lunch, the other sailors and I learnt the choreography for ‘There’s no cure like travel’ and ‘The crew song’. These numbers were particularly fun to learn as they included using mops as a props. This definitely made the dances a lot more enjoyable, as we incorporated them into leaps and pirouettes and were throwing and turning on them, which may or may not have led to some falling to begin with. However, as the rehearsal went on, we got the hang of it.
Following dinner, we had a full run through. This was definitely a bit scary, given the fact that there were certain things we hadn’t practiced in days. However, it was so rewarding seeing what everyone had been working on put together. It’s absolutely incredible to see how much we managed to do in a week, putting together an entire show in a mere six days. Whilst the run proved we weren’t exactly ‘show ready’. It showed what needed work and reflected how hard everyone, from the CPT to the cast, had worked.
Anything Goes
Set on a glamorous and outrageous cruise ship. ‘Anything Goes’ combines silly and downright farcical with the catching lilting score of Cole Porter.
A tale of the pursuit of forbidden love interweaves with gangsters competing for notoriety, the meddling of a particularly enchanting and renowned New York Club singer…and a crew of tap-dancing sailors that command the stage.
Discover more
Tickets are on sale now for performances from Tuesday 30 January – Saturday 3 February and prices start at £8.50.
Book yours now from the Gala Theatre website (www.galadurham.co.uk/galapost/anything-goes/), in person at the Theatre’s Box Office, or by calling 03000 266 600.
This amateur production of ‘Anything Goes’ is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Limited on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC,
