Character guide
Reno Sweeney
from Anything Goes
Reno Sweeney is the lead role of Anything Goes, Cole Porter's 1934 shipboard musical comedy.
- Show
- Anything Goes
- Broadway premiere
- 1934
- Role
- Lead
- Music by
- Cole Porter
Reno Sweeney on stage vs screen
Broadway compared with the 1936 film
Ethel Merman took Reno Sweeney from Broadway to Hollywood: she originated the role in 1934 and played it again in Paramount's 1936 film. The movie kept only four Cole Porter songs, rewrote the lyrics of You're the Top, and dropped Blow, Gabriel, Blow; the title song survives only as a first line Merman sings over the opening credits.
The 1956 film, also called Anything Goes, replaces most of the original characters, Reno included, and tells a new story. On stage, Patti LuPone led the 1987 Lincoln Center revival, and Sutton Foster won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical as Reno in 2011.
Reno Sweeney: role facts
- Originated on Broadway by
- Ethel Merman (1934)
- Notable performers
- Patti LuPone starred in the 1987 revival and Sutton Foster won the Tony as Reno in the 2011 revival; Merman also played her in the 1936 film.
- Voice type and range
- Mezzo-soprano (belt), G3 to Eb5
- Songs Reno Sweeney sings
- I Get a Kick Out of You (solo)
- You're the Top (with Billy)
- Friendship (with Moonface, 1987 and 2011 revivals)
- Anything Goes (with the Foursome and company)
- Blow, Gabriel, Blow (with company)
Who is Reno Sweeney?
Reno is a glamorous nightclub singer and former evangelist traveling aboard the SS American, sharp witted, worldly, and unafraid to speak her mind. She carries a torch for Billy Crocker, a younger man who is instead in love with Hope Harcourt, and much of the show's plot springs from Reno's scheming to help sort out the ship's tangle of romances, including her own eventual match with the aristocratic Lord Evelyn Oakleigh.
Her blend of brassy confidence and genuine warmth makes her both the engine of the show's farcical plot and its most enduring personality.
Reno's role in Anything Goes
Reno is the show's lead role, famous for anchoring some of Cole Porter's most celebrated songs, including the title number Anything Goes, I Get a Kick Out of You, and Blow, Gabriel, Blow. The role demands a powerhouse belt voice, sharp comic timing, and often tap dancing ability for its big production numbers.
Ethel Merman originated the role on Broadway in 1934, and the part has since become a defining showcase for leading ladies, with Patti LuPone and Sutton Foster among the performers who won acclaim in later revivals, Foster winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in the 2011 production.
Reno Sweeney: frequently asked questions
Did Patti LuPone win a Tony for Anything Goes?
No. LuPone was nominated for the 1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing Reno Sweeney in the 1987 Lincoln Center revival, but Joanna Gleason won for Into the Woods. Sutton Foster later won that Tony as Reno in the 2011 revival.
Why does Reno Sweeney perform a revival-style number on the ship?
Because Reno is a former evangelist turned nightclub singer, and Blow, Gabriel, Blow plays on that past. In the version used since the 1987 revival, her evening show aboard the SS American opens with a sermon asking passengers to confess their sins, then builds into this gospel-style number with the company.
What show is Reno Sweeney from?
Reno Sweeney is the lead character in Anything Goes, which opened on Broadway in 1934.
Is Reno Sweeney a lead or supporting role?
Reno Sweeney is a lead role and the show's central character.
Who wrote the music for Anything Goes?
Cole Porter composed the music and lyrics for Anything Goes.
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