Review: “Kiss Me, Kate” at Shakespeare Theatre
Shakespeare Theatre's Kiss Me, Kate is two hours of song, dance and unstoppable fun
Your search for the perfect holiday gift is over: just buy a bunch of tickets to Kiss Me, Kate (
) and start stuffing stockings. Superbly executed and tremendous fun, this production delivers a full-bore, good old-fashioned, movie-style musical that simply can’t be beat.
Written by Samuel and Bella Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, the premise is pure screwball comedy with all the silliness and saber wit that comes with it. As an acting company puts on a performance of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, the two formerly-married leads, Fred and Lilli, are engaged in an escalating domestic war that quickly spills over into their roles on stage. At the same time, Lois, the company bombshell, is toying with her boyfriend Bill’s affections on and off stage, while he is busy dodging a couple of gangsters who have turned up to call in his gambling debts. When Lilli readies to marry a straight-laced military man, Lois appears terminally incapable of fidelity, and the gangsters run out of patience, the Shrew and its players look ready to collapse.
Add Porter’s fabulously catchy score, choreographer Michele Lynch’s big song and dance numbers, snazzy tap, and a whole boatload of snappy one-liners, and even the biggest curmudgeon on your list is going to find something to grin about.
But, you ask, even a curmudgeon who hates musical theater? In this case it’s still a yes. It’s true that there will be no escaping some humor that will be too sappy for the sophisticates. And, yes, there will be some “encores” that only the zero-dark-hundred bus-to-Broadway crowd will love. But if there is any kind of musical that a non-musical type will like, it is this Kate. It is just funny enough, the dancing is just good enough, the music just punchy enough and, quite simply, the sheer joy of the production is just infectious enough that it will win them over.
And as for anyone who already digs the genre, well, they may want to consider a sedative with their pre-theater cocktail.
Stealing the show is a stunning Robyn Hurder as the young and vampy Lois Lane, a vintage pin-up come to life. Hurder has a voice to die-for: jazzy one minute, lyrical the next, full of sweetness and yet she can bring the house down on the money notes. And then there is her charisma — Hurder doesn’t just own the stage, she consumes it. Expressing an ideal blend of the bubbly with the slightly louche, she skillfully keeps her Lois from becoming too much of either.
And is there any way to separate her persona from the fact that she is fabulously curvy and proud of it? It is no small thing to realize that a good part of the reason she is just so breathtaking as she dances up a storm and drapes herself over the set (and a few people in it), is that we have been so starved of realistic physiques for so long, it is almost shockingly sexy to see one.
Another charismatic stand-out here is Douglas Sills, whose Fred Graham is a kind of charmingly flustered alpha. Convincingly crafting a Fred who looks like he loves the stage but is also verging on an age when he needs a few nights in, it’s easy to see why he realizes he’d rather be with Lilli than trolling backstage for chorus girls. Sills also gives his man some interesting quirks — he may certainly be part swashbuckler, but he also tends to interrupt himself with the odd chortle when he’s happy and the odd choke when he’s sad. It’s a curious kind of realism and it gives this Fred a bit of je ne sais quoi.
Oozing leading lady dignity and poise, Christine Sherrill’s Lilli Vanessi is a believable beau and a formidable foe to this Fred. She offers just the right amount of brittle resolve, making it very believable that she might just be capable of marrying out of the theater and into a life of domestic pomp and circumstance. Sherrill may need a song or two to warm up her voice, but she certainly brings it home with an attractive and expressive tone when she pulls out the stops to bemoan the tug of war in her heart.
Clyde Alves’ Bill Calhoun is a dancing joy to watch and has a nice chemistry with Hurder’s Lois, while Bev Appleton’s long-suffering stage manager Ralph makes for a memorably-comic straight man even in a small role. As Paul, T. Oliver Reid leads the big backstage number “It’s Too Hot” with a gorgeously subtle voice and style, while Bob Ari and Raymond Jaramillo McLeod play to the crowd with their gangsters First and Second Man.
But, in all honesty, prizing the individual performances from this production will never do it justice, because it’s always going to be about the spectacle. And even without a Cecil B. DeMille budget, director Alan Paul delivers this show in a whirlwind of beautiful, seamless pacing that results in entertainment far bigger and more bountiful than any of its parts.
So give your loved ones — and yourself — the one thing they’ll never find in a big box store: two live hours of song, dance and unstoppable fun.
Kiss Me, Kate runs to January 3 at the Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW. Tickets are $44 to $118. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org.
Also, check for discount tickets to Kiss Me, Kate.
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