In 1934, long before the Broadway musical took itself seriously, it was not that anything went, but if you had a handful of catchy, tuneful songs and a string of snappy one-liners, chances are you had a hit.

And if your composer was Cole Porter at the top of his game, as he certainly was with Anything Goes, then theaters might even be still producing your show 76 years later.

That is what the Maltz Jupiter Theatre has done, capping another successful season with a tap-happy, carefree production that is too busy entertaining us to be concerned that its story line is paper-thin and hard to get emotionally invested in.

As good as Porter’s score is — front-loaded in the first act alone with such pop standards as I Get A Kick Out of You, You’re the Top, Friendship, It’s De-Lovely and the title number — Anything Goes is hardly a foolproof musical. But the Maltz hides that fact quite well, thanks to production numbers built by director-choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge (who staged the recent Broadway revival of Ragtime) and her puckish sense of humor.

If the songs seem only vaguely related to the plot, that could be because Anything Goes first told a completely different story, and was hastily revised when an actual ocean liner fire paralleled what happened in the show too closely. Dodge uses a 1987 script rewrite by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, which freshens the jokes, but retains the musical’s lightweight air.

Still set on an ocean liner headed to England, the show involves a stowaway Wall Street apprentice named Billy Crocker, the girl he loves who is betrothed to an upper-class British twit, an evangelist-turned-nightclub-singer Reno Sweeney, her four blond backup girls, a low ranking crook on the Public Enemies list and a celebrity-obsessed ship crew. Of course, mistaken identities, unlikely coincidences, hokey disguises and an epidemic of romance ensues.

The show does bog down in the second act, as Porter insists on providing songs for tangential characters and not top-drawer songs at that (Be Like the Bluebird or The Gypsy in Me). The latter could easily be pruned away, but instead Dodge more than justifies its existence with some dazzling comic dance steps.

Heading a strong cast, all of whom keep breaking into tap, is Tari Kelly as Reno. A dead ringer for Christine Baranski, she has a similarly dry comic delivery and a belter’s way with a song. Deft comic Tom Beckett manages to earn more laughs with the wheezy humor dealt to mobster Moonface Martin than seems possible, while Richard Vida and Catherine Walker are aptly toothsome and bland as the young lovers.

Michael Schweikardt’s scenic design is amusingly nautical and Gail Baldoni provides stylish and sexy costumes. Helen Gregory leads a tight, swinging 10-member band, including herself on piano.

As with any farce, speed is crucial and the Maltz production has plenty of it. But Dodge is also assured enough to slow the show down to try to hook us into the romance. Chances are you will not really care who eventually weds whom in this Anything Goes, but you will be entertained and will surely leave the Maltz humming one or more of Porter’s tunes.

R E V I E W

ANYTHING GOES

B+

Where: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter

When: Through March 28.

Tickets: $40-$59.

Call: (561) 575-2223.

The verdict: A score of great Porter hits stands out from the flimsy storyline, cleverly staged and choreographed .