"Bon Voyage" to Monsignor Farrell's Production of "Anything Goes"

The Farrell Players will close the curtains tonight on their final of four performances of "Anything Goes." Directed by Andrew Monteleone and choreographed by Tanya Nicklaus-Garaffa, "Anything Goes" proved to be a truly enjoyable show. A cast of fifty-one talented and dedicated high school students (freshmen-seniors) put an extraordinary amount of hard work into making this show a success. Every show that the Farrell Players put on rarely disappoints. Go check out this high quality, low costing night on the town!

"Anything Goes" marks Mr. Monteleone's tenth year as director and sixteenth year as musical director at Monsignor Farrell. In addition to him being a member of the physicals faculty, he is also the founder and president of the Subset players (another local theater group on the island that does performances mainly in the summer.) This is Tanya's fourth year as the choreographer of the Farrell Players. A graduate from Muhlenberg College, Tanya has an astounding resume in dance and theater. I had the privilege of working with "Monte" and Tanya on two shows as a Farrell Player. Performing both Guys and Dolls and South Pacific (2006 and 2007)  was a wonderful experience for me. I had the opportunity to make friends that became more like family as well as working with professionals. I personally encourage students to become part the drama club at whichever school they attend. It is really an amazing and rewarding feeling to be up on stage when the curtain closes, knowing that people are applauding for all of your hard work that you and your cast put in over the past few months!

The cast includes boys that are members of the Monsignor Farrell drama club as well as girls from schools all over Staten Island. Many of these boys work with Mr. Monteleone over the course of the school year as part of the Forensics team where they travel to various competitions. Some of the leading roles in the show include: Caitlin Branen as Reno Sweeny, James Boland as Billy Crocker, Megan Mandile as Hope Harcourt, and Thomas Fagoni as Moonface Martin. With support from a fabulous chorus, and an eleven piece orchestra (two of which were students) well known songs such as "I Get a Kick out of You," and "Friendship" are very memorable performances. Some may know the song "I Get a Kick Out of You" as made famous by Mr. Blue Eyes himself- Frank Sinatra! The title song of "Anything Goes" at the end of Act I is a real showstopper! 

Anything Goes is set in the 1920s/1930s on a ship, the S.S. American. The set constructed with the help of the stage managers and stage crew (also Monsignor Farrell students) is amazingly done as if the whole performance takes place in and around the ship.
It proves to be an entertaining performance as the audience watches Billy and Moonface Martin encounter endeavors in their search for love and money. For $16 a ticket, Anything Goes is a definite hit! Do not miss the last performance tonight at 8:00 PM at Monsignor Farrell High School.
Bon Voyage!