Anything Goes
Artist
James McMullan
United States, born 1934
Date1987
MediumOffset Lithograph
Dimensions83 1/2 x 42 in. (212.1 x 106.7 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Mirko Ilić
Object numberPH.6287
DescriptionDue to the lengthy run of Anything Goes, this is perhaps Jim McMullan’s most recognizable composition. The design went through numerous iterations, starting with sketches featuring the lead couple romantically interacting on the bow of the ship, and moving on to a darkly dressed woman gazing over her shoulder, until the committee finally settled on the coy lady in nautical dress shown here. The poster went on to influence the actual stage production in which Patti LuPone mimicked this pose at the end of Act I. About eight months into the musical’s run, McMullan was asked to create an alternative version of the poster in which the woman now directly faced the viewer as she leaned over the ship’s rail. Poster aficionados will notice similarities between the ship in the background and those in any number of Art Deco posters of ocean liners, most notably A.M. Cassandre’s L’Atlantique (1931).On View
Not on view
