MUSICALS AND SHOWS - KISS ME, KATE

Filmed in High Definition at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London

Music and Lyrics by

COLE PORTER

 Book by

SAM and BELLA SPEWACK

Kiss Me, Kate is one of the most sparkling musicals of the golden age of Broadway. With Cole Porter's music and Sam and Bella Spewack's hilarious book - a take on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew in a 1940s theatrical context - it was a hit from the outset.

When in 2003 Michael Blakemore staged the first Broadway revival in fifty years, with choreography by Kathleen Marshall, his glorious production enchanted both critics and audience. It swept the board at the Tony Awards. This High Definition recording was made when the show transferred to London and again attracted rave reviews and packed houses. Rachel York and Brent Barrett are the stars of the show.

Stage Director...................... Michael Blakemore

Musical Director ...................Paul Maguire

Choreography ......................Kathleen Marshall

Set Design by .......................Robin Wagner

Costumes by ........................Martin Pakledinaz

Lighting by.......................... Peter Kaczorowski

Principal Cast

Fred Graham/Petruchio......... Brent Barrett

Lilli Vanessi/Katharine........... Rachel York

Lois Lane/Bianca.................. Nancy Anderson

Bill Calhoun/Lucentio ............Michael Beresse

Harrison Howell ...................Nicolas Colicos

First Gangster ......................Teddy Kempner

Second Gangster....................Jack Chissick

Hattie................................. Kaye E. Brown

Paul ...................................Nolan Frederick

Harry Trevor....................... Colin Farrell

Directed by Chris Hunt

Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, and Lisa Kirk.

Kiss Me, Kate was a comeback and a personal triumph for Cole Porter. After several successful musicals in the 1920's and 1930s, notably Gay Divorce, Fifty Million Frenchmen, and Anything Goes, he experienced an equestrian accident in 1937 that left him in constant pain. Following the accident, he continued to write songs and musicals but with limited success, such as Mexican Hayride, Let's Face It!, and Something for the Boys, and some thought he was past his prime. Kiss Me, Kate was a response to Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! and other integrated musicals, and it proved to be his biggest hit and the only one of his shows to run for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway.  It won the first Tony Award presented for Best Musical, in 1949. (Source – Wikipedia)

Act I

Egotistical Fred Graham is the director of a Broadway-bound musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. He and his diva movie-star ex-wife Lilli Vanessi star opposite each other in the roles of Petruchio and Katharine (The "Kate" of the title). The pair argue backstage as only people in love can argue. Meanwhile, Fred's new girlfriend, Lois Lane, who plays Bianca, is romantically interested in Bill Calhoun, the actor playing Lucentio. Bill loves to gamble, and it turns out that he has signed Fred's name to a big IOU [for $10,000 from a game of craps]. Also, flowers sent by Fred to Lois are mistakenly delivered to Lilli, and Lilli realizes that she still loves Fred.

Everyone is in the middle of performing The Taming of the Shrew on stage when Lilli discovers that Fred's flowers were really intended for Lois, and she starts an all-out war mid-performance that threatens the production's success. At the same time, a pair of gangsters have come after Fred to collect the gambling debt, since his name is on the IOU. Only a successful show will provide the money that Fred needs to avoid getting his fingers broken. Fred slyly uses the gangsters to prevent the furious Lilli from walking out on the show. The gangsters join the cast to keep an eye on Lilli. Lilli channels her anger into a fierce performance as Katharine, and Fred loses his temper and spanks her as Petruchio.

Act II

"The Shrew" progresses as Petruchio marries Katharine and soon misses the single life. The gangsters find out that their boss has been killed, and so the IOU is worthless, and they leave, noting that guys who know Shakespeare can impress the ladies. Lilli quits the show, walking out with her dependable fiance Harrison. On stage, Bianca and Lucentio are finally married. As "The Shrew" comes to a close, Lilli unexpectedly returns to the stage, and speaking as Katharine, she admits her love for Fred. Lilli and Fred are reunited, Lois and Bill come together, and all ends happily.

Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. His works include the musical comedies Kiss Me, Kate, Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady and Anything Goes, as well as songs like "Night and Day", "I Get a Kick out of You", "Well, Did You Evah!" and "I've Got You Under My Skin". He was noted for his sophisticated, bawdy lyrics, clever rhymes, and complex forms. He was one of the greatest contributors to the Great American Songbook. Cole Porter is one of the few Tin Pan Alley composers to have written both lyrics and music for his songs. (Source - Wikipedia)