Anything Goes

Cole Porter's musical confection Anything Goes is a fizzy farce that fills a steamship with gangsters, televangelists and high society, and then points them out to sea. New Line Theatre artistic director Scott Miller views the show as something far more tart: In his eyes it's a satire of America's penchant for glorifying criminals and talentless pretty people, and the practice of religion as a commercial pursuit. With that in mind, New Line Theatre's new production of Anything Goes will use the 1962 version of the show (P.G. Wodehouse worked on that script) and will take aim at some very tender targets. Anything Goes is performed at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (March 1 to 24) at the Marcelle Theatre (3310 Samuel Shepard Drive; www.newlinetheatre.com). Tickets are $15 to $25.