Gemma Sutton is Reno Sweeney and Josh St Clair is Billy Crocker in The Mill at Sonning's festive revival of Anything Goes, which runs from 19 November 2026 to 17 January 2027.
Gemma Sutton will play the nightclub singer Reno Sweeney in a new production of Cole Porter's Anything Goes at The Mill at Sonning, with Josh St Clair cast as the lovestruck stowaway Billy Crocker. The run at the dinner theatre near Reading opens on 19 November 2026 and continues to 17 January 2027, taking in the whole Christmas season.
Sutton played Young Sally in Follies at the National Theatre and Kate Draper in Girl from the North Country, both in the West End and in Toronto, and won an Offie Award as Angel in The Rink at Southwark Playhouse. St Clair was in the original West End company of Frozen; other credits include Glory Ride at the Charing Cross Theatre and the UK tours of Ghost and, in its original touring cast, Kinky Boots.
Around them, Lulu-Mae Pears is the debutante Hope Harcourt, with Elizabeth Elvin as her widowed mother Evangeline Harcourt and Martin Allanson as the wealthy Englishman Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Chris Grahamson takes the hapless gangster Moonface Martin, Public Enemy No. 13, Jessica Lim is the gangster's moll Erma Latour and Jo Servi plays the tycoon Elisha Whitney.
The rest of the company are Jon Bonner as the ship's Captain, Rob Gathercole as the Purser, Kristian Jacobs as Minister Henry T. Dobson, and Sam Khadirian and Lorenzo de Liso as the New York street toughs Spit and Dippy, a professional debut for de Liso. Pamela Blair and Tara Yasmin are Angels, the showgirls in Reno's act, and Jamie Jonathan completes the line-up.
Joseph Pitcher directs, returning to a house whose Christmas musicals under Pitcher have included Gypsy, named Best Musical Production at the 2023 UK Theatre Awards, along with My Fair Lady, Singin' in the Rain, High Society and Guys & Dolls. The director is also lined up for The Mill's 2027 world premiere of The Island. The choreographer is Gary Lloyd, whose work includes White Christmas at The Mill and, in the West End, Heathers and Thriller Live.
Set design is by Diego Pitarch and costumes by Natalie Titchener, with lighting from Chris Mould and sound from Chris Whybrow. Charlie Ingles is responsible for the orchestrations, arrangements and musical supervision, Jemma Starling is musical director and casting is by Jane Deitch. Richard Carson is assistant director and Lauren Gore assistant choreographer.
The story unfolds aboard the luxury liner S.S. American, where Reno, Billy and a boatload of eccentric passengers juggle false identities, harebrained plots and unexpected romance. Porter's score includes I Get a Kick Out of You, You're the Top and the title number. The Mill is staging the version adapted from Lincoln Center Theater's 1987 Broadway revival, with the original book by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, and a new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.
Evening performances start at 8.15pm and regular matinees at 2.15pm, with national press performances on Friday 27 November 2026 at 8.15pm and Saturday 28 November 2026 at 2.15pm. The Mill at Sonning, at Sonning Eye, Reading RG4 6TY, sells show-only matinees alongside its dining options.
For more information, visit the official website.
