A stowaway, an evangelist and an undercover gangster are just a few of the faces bottled up on a cruise ship in “Anything Goes.” It’s the latest musical from Nikiski Middle/High School’s Bulldog Theater. The actors call it a swansong for their high school careers and an example of the power of high school arts.
Backdropped by a grand staircase and a pair of life-preservers, students sing and dance dressed as the crew and passengers of a 1930s ocean liner bound for London in their rendition of “Anything Goes.” First staged in 1934, the musical shoves a cast of characters together for hijinks and romance at sea.
Mason Doth, who plays a businessman chasing love onstage, said each of its characters and threads weave together as the show unfolds.
“Each scene is one relationship with the other, and then it's so fun to watch it,” he said. “It’s like one of those movies where there’s a bunch of stories and then they all combine at the end.”
The large ensemble provides a variety of roles for Nikiski’s young actors. Sophomore Rainy Jenness said the show is bright and funny performance art coming out of her hometown school.
“You’re going to laugh, and you might cry,” Jenness said. “But I think that the main reason people should come out is to support our theater program.”
But for some members of the cast, the show carries a special significance. It’s the last for graduating seniors like Oshie Broussard. As character Reno Sweeney, Broussard sings, jokes and dances with a 1930s jazz sensibility in period costume.
“My favorite thing about doing Nikiski shows isn’t the flowers, or it’s not the show itself, but it’s doing the show with my friends and with my family, the people that I’ve grown up with,” she said.
Broussard’s time on the stage won’t come to an end when she leaves Nikiski Middle/High School, though. She plans to study music education in college. For her, music is always something that’s made school exciting. As the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District considers budget cuts to arts programs this year, Broussard says “Anything Goes” is all the more special.
“Music is a universal language and it’s the most important of all of them because it brings everybody together and it makes people more ready for life and it makes them kinder people,” she said.
Malachi Jordan is also a senior. He’s playing undercover gangster Moonface Martin. Jordan’s only been acting since last year and says this role is demanding. But he says the final product is worth it.
“We’ve worked really hard and we’re really excited to show this with the public,” he said.
Jackson Hooper agrees. He’s a junior, which means he’ll watch some of his castmates take their final bow. After acting alongside some of them for more than a decade he says it’s sad to see them go.
“It’s really cool to see each other grow as human beings and it’s going to be really, really difficult to say goodbye,” he said. “But this show, it’s not heavy handed. It’s so light and fun. It was designed in the 30s to be a distraction from the Great Depression, and that is what it can be right now.”
There are still a few weeks before Nikiski’s seniors head their separate ways. But until then you can find them on stage, joking in period costume, bound for London.
Nikiski Middle/High School’s production of “Anything Goes” opens Friday. Shows are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, this week and next.
