In the constellation of musical comedy masterpieces, Kiss Me, Kate shines as perhaps Broadway's most sparkling achievement.
This is the winner of the first-ever Tony Award for Best Musical, alive with onstage romance, backstage passion, comedy high and low, a hilarious dash of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and the songwriting genius of Cole Porter at his stylish, sexy, sophisticated best, including "Too Darn Hot," "So In Love" and "Always True To You In My Fashion." Once again, Roundabout catapults you to musical comedy heaven, with a brand-new Kiss Me, Kate.
Scott Ellis directs Kelli O'Hara, Will Chase, Corbin Bleu, and more - now thru June 2 only!
Purists may squawk - though similar changes have long since shown up in feminist productions of 'The Taming of the Shrew.' For me, the adjustments, especially Ms. Green's and Ms. O'Hara's, are completely successful. They not only reorient the story as a warning to all sexes, but also provide a workaround for a musical that our cancel culture seemed ready to throw on the bonfire of the inanities. How nice to find 'Kiss Me, Kate' rescued from that fate: still speaking to us - or better yet, singing - from the not so buried past.
Although 'Kiss Me, Kate' moves at a frolicsome pace under Ellis's direction, on sets by David Rockwell that move between period-style flats for the 'Shrew' scenes and realistic designs for the play-without-the-play passages, there's no avoiding that the book, by Sam and Bella Spewack, loses steam in the second act (even with the interpolated 'From This Moment On'), which plays out more as a series of jumbled diversions before the romantic-clinch climax.
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