There’s something especially enjoyable about seeing a group of live performers in 2025 acting like they’re in a 1930’s Fred Astaire movie, with its posh art deco décor, big musical numbers, and madcap romantic mix-ups.

The epitome of a splashy musical, Anything Goes opened on Broadway in 1934 – the same year that Fred and Ginger’s film The Gay Divorcee came out – and has been revived numerous times since then.

Broadway Rose’s current production is adapted from the 1987 Broadway version and is directed and choregraphed by Peggy Taphorn, who delivers everything an audience of a big old-fashioned show could wish for, from the spectacular sequined costumes to the comical gangster character who keeps a machine gun in his violin case.

The champagne bubble of a plot takes place on a transatlantic ship, which is packed to its balconies with colorful characters, including Billy Crocker (Matt Casey), a young Wall Street broker who stows away in hopes of wooing the heiress Hope Harcourt (a golden-voiced Jennifer Davies). Also on board is Billy’s boss (Jim Peerenboom), from whom Billy, who’s gone AWOL from his job, must hide.

Further complicating matters are Hope’s ambitious and overbearing mother (Lisa Knox); Hope’s silly English fiancé, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Matthew Henry Curl); and Moonface Martin (Joe Theissen), aka public enemy #13, who’s in disguise as a minister.

Mostly, though, the story is an excuse to sail from one Cole Porter song to another, including “I Get a Kick out of You,” “You’re the Top,” and “Easy to Love.”

With the voices of a talented cast to sing the clever lyrics (“Some get a kick from cocaine / I’m sure that if I took even one sniff / That would bore me terrifically too / Yet I get a kick out of you”) and a live orchestra conducted by Barney Stein, who’s also the music director, the production does the splendid songs justice … which is a good thing since they’re so well-loved, many audiences members were tapping their toes or bobbing their heads in time to the overture at the Sunday, Aug. 3 matinee.

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To be successful, any staging of Anything Goes simply cannot have a so-so Reno Sweeney, the supremely charming nightclub owner who carries a torch for Billy at the beginning of the show. No need to worry about that here. Thanks to Taphorn’s terrific casting, Broadway Rose’s Reno, played by the dynamic Courtney Fero, confidently steers the production through its vibrant and witty waters.

In 2011, I got to see Sutton Foster play the part on Broadway. That’s a hard act to follow. But Fero, with a dazzling stage presence and a bliss-inducing voice, is more than up for the task as she makes her own grand entrance, posing with hip cocked and one leg strategically placed so it’s exposed by the long slit in her satiny burgundy gown. She also walks with a swing and makes exaggerated open-palmed hand gestures as if to announce, Ta da! I’m here, everybody!

Keeping up with her is the wonderful Casey as Billy Crocker, who sings with an appealing tenor that sounds like a fuller-bodied version of Astaire’s voice. With Taphorn’s choreography, his seemingly effortless movements echo Astaire’s as well.

Indeed, the entire cast shines, especially Curl as Lord Evelyn. (Oh, how Americans love to giggle at a very proper Brit – especially when he goes around proclaiming he has “hot pants” for this and that.) Theissen’s congenial mobster and Karin Terry’s feisty Erma, his sailor-happy sidekick, are also delights, and Kai de Mello-Folsom and Bryce Earhart as the devilishly nimble criminals Spit and Dippy stand out as well.

What has happened to tap dancing? Many musicals today include just the briefest routine, so it was a thrill to see the longer numbers featuring singing and tap-dancing sailors here. Remember when dance fans were excited about Savion Glover’s Tony-winning choreography in Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk? Although Broadway style dancing isn’t as intricate, it still touches on what must be a profound need for human expression via the body, instead of the voice. Judging by the Broadway Rose audience’s enthusiastic response to the splashy tap number that goes with the titular song, I’m not the only one who’s still hungry to see performances that feature this art form.

Like icing on the cake, Debbie Bray’s costume designs are divine, from the coordinated black and white outfits the whole cast wears as the ship sets sail, to Hope’s frothy debutante gowns and Reno’s razzle-dazzle get-ups with their sweeping capes and puffs of fur. The sea-green accents on the ship also make a nice backdrop for all the onboard antics, as does the elegant gold design on the wall of the ship’s dining room.

There may have been a lot of us in the audience who were already fans of the show, but if anyone was seeing Anything Goes for the first time, they’re sure to remember how good they felt while experiencing this delightful, delicious, and de-lovely voyage.

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Anything Goes continues at the Deb Fennell Auditorium, 9000 S.W. Durham Road in Tigard, through Aug. 17. Find tickets and schedules here.