The Show ...
Anything Goes was based on an idea by a producer, Vinton Freedley, who was living on a boat, having left the USA to avoid his debts. He selected the writing team, and the star, Ethel Merman. As the show was in preparation, a passenger ship, the SS Morro Castle, burned and over 125 passengers perished. The original plot, which concerned a mad bomber running loose on an ocean liner, was deemed insensitive, and the Bolton-Wodehouse book was almost entirely recreated by Lindsay and Crouse, who became lifelong writing partners.
According to theatre legend, the show's new title, along with the title number, was born from the haste with which the show was revamped: at a late night production meeting, an exasperated and over-worked member of the production team cried out "And just how in the hell are we going to end the first act?!" "At this point," responded one of the producers, being more helpful than he realized, "anything goes!!"
