If you see it, it's Stacy’s responsibility, if you hear it, it’s mine.”

Music Director Ryan McCoy talks about collaboration with Visuals Director Stacy Mittag

Black Dirt’s “Anything Goes” premiers July 25 at 7 p.m. at the high school with shows running through Aug. 2.

Actors ran lines and practiced blocking during week four of rehearsals for Black Dirt Theater’s “Anything Goes” even as the set was being built up around them.
Cole Porter’s musical “Anything Goes” takes place mainly abord the SS American, a 1930s steamship, which for Black Dirt required the skeleton of a two-story ship to be constructed directly onto the high school’s stage., smokestacks and all.
During the Act I rehearsal on July 1, the cast—which ranges across generations—ran between wooden beams and hid behind and among the soon-to-be ship. Music Director Ryan McCoy fed lines to stumbling actors as Visuals Director Stacy Mittag worked choreography.
The two directors have been working together at Black Dirt starting last summer with “Cinderella,” with McCoy focusing on the music and Mittag on the visuals.
“If you see it, it's Stacy’s responsibility, if you hear it, it’s mine,” said McCoy about the collaboration.
During the music review, which saw the cast feigning dance moves and practicing smiling when not singing, an audible groan rippled through the room as McCoy skipped a dance break.
“Silly me just focusing on the music,” quipped McCoy.
That music is a particular selling point for the production. “Anything Goes” is a product of its time, featuring jazz numbers and tap dancing that can play out in longer dance breaks.
Mittag characterized the show as full of earworms: “There’s a different song I sing on my ride home every night.”
“Anything Goes” differs drastically from many of Black Dirt’s previous productions, contrasting with particular clarity against the troupe’s last summer production of “Cinderella.”
While the show is family-friendly, it is geared towards a slightly older audience than “Cinderella” with less physical comedy and more subtle humor.
The musical features gangsters and heiresses, Wall Street brokers and English Lords, all aboard a London-bound ship from New York City.
From this larger cast, “Anything Goes” has more character plot lines as different characters fall in and out of love which speeds up the pace of the show: “You’re not just waiting for two people to get together,” said McCoy.
Mittag describes these quick character moments as “popcorn scenes” that are shorter, snappier, and happen quickly one after the other.
“They’ve been knocking it out of the park,” said McCoy.
The play centers around Reno Sweeney, an evangelist turned night club singer, as she takes a ship to London.
“On the surface it’s about a ship crossing the ocean but under the surface […] there’s a lot going on,” said McCoy.
Sweeney is played by Black Dirt veteran Lindsey Letendre, who audiences may recognize from previous Black Dirt productions such as the 2016 production of “The Wizard of Oz” where she played Glenda, and last year’s “Cinderella” where she played Gabrielle.
When asked how long she had been in productions with Black Dirt, Letendre counted her decade with the troupe by noting the age of her son, with whom she was pregnant while performing in 2015’s “Guys and Dolls.”
Like McCoy and Mittag, the pacing of the show stood out to Letendre: “physically, it’s been challenging.”
Letendre trained for the role by running on treadmills for the durations of songs to prepare.
As to the role of Reno, “She’s been delightful to get to know […] inside she’s just a big softie,” said Letendre.
Black Dirt’s “Anything Goes” premiers July 25 at 7 p.m. at the high school with shows running through Aug. 2. Tickets can be purchased on Black Dirt Theater's website at www.blackdirttheater.com