Kiss Me, Kate

Studio 54, NYC, March 21, 2019

Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes

“Another op’nin’/Another show…” But this snappy start is not just another op’nin’, and Kiss Me, Kate is not just another show. At Studio 54, it is the start of a show-biz musical-within-a-Shakespearean play, Kiss Me, Kate is one of the magical classics from the “Golden Era” of Broadway musicals. The Cole Porter score is brilliant, probably his best; the cast gets five stars. The Roundabout Company production stars the current belle of Broadway, Kelli O’Hara, radiant as super-diva Lilli Vanessi/Kate, and dapper Will Chase (TV’s Nashville), as her ex-husband/leading man/director, Fred Graham/Petruchio. The battling Broadway duo’s backstage musical was inspired by the theater world’s impetuous twosome, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, who performed The Taming of the Shrew in the 1930s. 

Toward the end of this season of so-so musicals, Kiss Me, Kate offers a Broadway revival that strikes gold with melodies as lush as “So in Love” and “Were Thine That Special Face?” and the risqué wit of “Always True to You in My Fashion.” The show-stoppers are time-honored: an ersatz-operatic duet on “Wunderbar,” and two gangsters who cleverly brush up their Shakespeare with a nifty soft-shoe. Warren Carlyle’s breathtaking choreography is fire-and-flash in “Too Darn Hot,” dancing up a storm of athleticism and grace on David Rockwell’s 1940’s theater rooftop set and the smart sexiness he brings to “Tom, Dick or Harry” in Elizabethan Padua.
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Scott Ellis directs. Lilli and Fred are currently in the midst of rehearsing a backstage musical version of Shakespeare’s The Timing of the Shrew. Fred is not only the leading man but producer and director of the show. While he and Lilli are divorced, their lingering love/hate mixed-feelings passions are red-hot, flamed by egotism, jealousy, stage-stealing, Fred’s swindling, and debt leading to threatening thugs putting the squeeze on him and Lilli. 

Under the hand of music director Paul Gemignani, the songs flow with sense and sensuousness, relating to the plot and propelling the action forward O’Hara’s soprano is sublime, warm, and emotional, her coloratura bellissimo performing a melting “So in Love.” Lilli exhibits a proud simmering sensuality with Fred even as she is betrothed to a dominating military officer, General Harrison Howell (Terence Archie). Her Kate is sexy, independent, and funny, tough enough to give as good as she gets when Petruchio threatens to manhandle her. While the late Marin Mazzie portrayed a more ballsy drama-queen Kate in the 1999 revival of this show, O’Hara’s natural warmth comes through as she sings “I Hate Men” more as a lesson to be learned by today’s women than a theatrical meltdown.

Chase’s Fred is a dashing ham who knows what buttons to push to set Kate on edge. Chase brings charm and a lighter tone to his leading man than previous weightier baritones, yet his vocals and personality blend appealingly with O’Hara’s. It’s a good match and he is impressive as he ponders “Where Is The Life That Late I Led?,” alone on his wedding night. 

Playing Kate’s sister Bianca is newcomer Stephanie Styles in her Broadway debut as Lois Lane, a dishy vamp who is always true to whomever—but in her fashion. Hoping to make Lois his main squeeze, Corbin Bleu plays Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, an energetic tap-dancer, outstanding with spectacular James T. Lane leading the company in “Too Darn Hot.

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The comedic moxie in Bella and Samuel Spivak’s original book was updated by Amanda Green for just enough modern authority and farce without losing the original flavor and theatrical character. For example, when Kate sings “I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple,” the word “women” has been replaced with “people,” which leads to compromise as the key for a happy marriage. Still, the second half of the show sags with some twisting distractions as the struggling couples and financial imbroglios untangle themselves. An audience favorite, “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” is inserted here, but disappointing when the two thugs (John Pankow and Lance Coadie Williams) fail to distinctly enunciate the double-entendre references the song is known for.

David Rockwell aimed for authenticity in backstage scenes such as dressing rooms and theater spaces. For the Shakespearean segments, he went for whimsy with picturesque painted flat drop-downs. Costume designs by Jeff Mahshie are elaborate, especially O’Hara in Lilli’s late-1940’s Dior look and seamed stockings. Kate wears a wild red wig and velvety baroque late-1590’s costumes.The range of choreography also skips across eras with a Renaissance pavane, ’40’s swing, be-bop, graceful waltzes, and specialty movie numbers.
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“Another op’nin’…It’s curtain time and away we go!” Cole Porter’s 1948 masterpiece of dramatic romance and ribald sass is still “Wunderbar!” over 70 years later.