Kiss Me Kate

New York, Martin Beck Theatre
London, Victoria Palace Theatre
(closed)

Cole Porter: Kiss Me, Kate Composed by Cole Porter. For voice, piano and guitar chords. From the Broadway musical "Kiss Me, Kate". Format: piano/vocal/chords songbook. With vocal melody, piano accompaniment, lyrics, chord names and guitar chord diagrams. Standards and Broadway. 80 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Hal Leonard.
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    Kiss Me, Kate, Broadway's newest hit, provides scrumptious entertainment because it doesn't aspire to more. With a book by Sam and Bella Spewack and some of Cole Porter's best songs, this musical comedy enchants audiences through its faithful interpretation of the original. No revisionist updating in this production! Michael Blakemore, the show's director, has smartly kept its old fashioned charm and humor while making it all seem very fresh. Actors mug appropriately and deliver their slightly corny lines with gumption. Costumes are bright and true to the period and the sets work beautifully to create a real "backstage" feel to the show.
    Kiss Me, Kate centers around the two main characters, thespians Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham, played to perfection by Marin Mazzie and Brian Stokes Mitchell. As a formerly married couple who find themselves acting opposite each other in the musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, the two create such magic onstage that the audience cannot help but cheer on a reunion. (The show was said to be inspired originally by the off-stage fights of the legendary acting couple, Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne.) Formerly seen in Ragtime together, Mazzie and Mitchell have emerged as true theatrical stars in every sense of the word. They quarrel with energy, sing exquisitely, handle the comedy perfectly and generate the right amount of chemistry to play convincing lovers. On stage, alone or together, they command attention and exude the charisma needed to create these larger than life parts. Without them, the show becomes just another revival. With them, the show is pure magic.
    The music is all Cole Porter and wonderfully executed. "Wunderbar," sung by Mazzie and Mitchell is a rich, melodic duet. "So In Love" receives a touching, heart-wrenching encore by Mitchell in the second act, while Lee Wilkoff and Michael Mulheren bring down the house with a hysterically funny rendition of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."
    Wilkoff and Mulheren provide many laughs as two gangsters who, through various plot twists, find themselves in the show within the show. Michael Berresse and Amy Spanger are fine as two young lovers in the cast, though neither shines except when dancing. Ms. Spanger is particularly disappointing, throwing away what could be a star turn in the number "Always True to You." Technically, she sings and dances like the best of them, but she lacks sufficient star quality to stop the show.
    Kathleen Marshall's choreography does manage to stop the show at times, especially in the spectacular "Too Darn Hot" and the acrobatic second act solo by Berresse. Both are cleverly choreographed and performed with finesse by engaging dancers. The staging of the opening song, "Another Op'nin', Another Show," is disappointing and doesn't quite live up to later numbers. But though it starts the show off on a very slow note, the momentum is quickly picked up and doesn't stop until the last glorious number.
    Kiss Me, Kate is the first genuine hit of the fall season. Deservedly so, the Martin Beck Theatre can count on a long-term tenant, providing that stars of the caliber of Mitchell and Mazzie can be found to replace them in the leads.
                                                                                                                               - Nella Vera .