WHEN Billy Crocker discovers that his heart’s desire, debutante heiress Hope Harcourt, is engaged to an English aristocrat, he stows away aboard the SS American to win her back.

Aided by an assortment of eccentric passengers on board the luxurious transatlantic liner, Billy attempts to untangle the web of love before the boat reaches Southampton.

Audiences will be setting sail in Cole Porter’s feelgood musical, Anything Goes, when it floats into Bradford next week.

“Cole Porter wrote it during the Depression to lift spirits,” says actor Hugh Sachs, who plays comedy gangster Moonface Martin.

“It’s one of the classic American musicals – it’s frothy and funny, with songs we all know. They were the pop songs of their time. These days we make musicals from pop songs but back then the big songs came from musicals.”

Hugh joins a cast including Jane Wymark, who played DCI Barnaby’s wife in Midsomer Murders, in the show, which transports audiences to the glittering age of tap dancing and high society.

The score features classic such as I Get a Kick Out Of You, You’re the Top, It’s De-Lovely and Anything Goes. With sassy heroines, mischievous mob bosses, comedy capers and tap dancing sailors, it’s a joyous tale of romance and high jinks on the high seas. “It’s wonderfully witty,” says Hugh, who is relishing his role as Moonface. “He’s a gangster hiding from the FBI, he thinks he’s brilliant but he’s public enemy Number 13. He gets into lots of scraps, it’s great fun. I usually play posh Englishmen so this is out of my comfort zone, but I’m loving it.”

With an eight-minute tap dance, the show is a fast-paced song and dance extravaganza. “Choreography is difficult for an actor with no dance training, because you don’t have the muscle memory and you don’t pick up the steps as quickly as dancers would,” he says. “But this is a wonderful company, the dancers are at the top of their game and I’ve learned so much from them.

“The noise the audience makes after the big tap routine is deafening, it’s like someone has scored the winning goal in the cup final. It’s a lovely, joyful show, and it makes people happy.”

Hugh’s stage and TV careers includes roles in One Man Two Guvnors, Foyle’s War, The Catherine Tate Show and the movie Love, Honour and Obey, but he is best known as Gavin, the reluctant holidaymaker in hit ITV comedy, Benidorm.

“Most of us were completely unknown when Benidorm started and it felt like a little theatre company going away for a little while,” he says.

“The writing has always been very strong, and the characters were refreshingly far from being one-dimensional. With Madge, you’d expect her to be a kind but batty old lady, because that’s how grannies are usually portrayed on TV, but she’s actually a nasty piece of work who doesn’t even appear to like her own family.

“Normally a gay couple in a sitcom would be over the top, but Gavin and Troy just sat on sun loungers surrounded by chaos.

Anything Goes runs at the Alhambra from March 3-7. For tickets ring (01274) 432000.