KISS ME, KATE (2019 Roundabout Revival) - Previews — Page 2

No, the set isn’t on the same level as the She Loves Me revival, but in fairness the entire musical takes place in a Baltimore theater that our characters do not seem to think too highly of. There are scenes in the dressing rooms, backstage and then the onstage, play within a play, scenes. There isn’t a turntable to rotate from backstage to onstage- it’s pretty straightforward, and like the production as a whole- fine, but uninspired.

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I didn’t really notice many changes to the book. It felt like that of the last revival; From This Moment On is included, though I never felt like this added song did much for the show.

This will obviously be nominated for revival, as this and Oklahoma are the only two revivals this season, and it would be shocking if both O’Hara and Chase weren’t nominated. Everything else is too early too tell.

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For the people who went, how was Steaphine and Corbin?

Did any songs get cut? Is "From This Moment On" used in the same scene as the last revival or has it been interpolated elsewhere?

Also, are they using an Overture before the opening number?

Updated On: 2/15/19 at 01:35 AM

I was kind of hoping we’d get the Overture for the next revival. Ah well.

The casting of Chase is terrific, as is the report of his already successful take on the role. He's quite a powerful actor, and if anyone recalls his recent work in a few defining scenes of "Sharp Objects," he has enormous range. He's only become stronger, with more colors and depth, in his 40s. May this revival launch a new phase of his career.

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Auggie, I totally agree with you about Chase. He has only gotten better with age. I realize I’ve now seen Chase on stage and screen quite a bit, and his voice has never sounded this full or rich. Once he fully embraces Fred’s inner ham, this could easily be a career highlight.

This is now the fourth show in which I’ve seen Corbin Bleu, and vocally this the best I’ve heard him. He has the hunky good looks to be a matinee idol, but IMO you can see the effort in his dancing. There’s much athleticism, but it’s still lacking some finesse. “Bianca” started off nicely, but it’s a dance number and really needs to wow at the end. Like we need to be breathless the way an audience is watching Fred Astaire pull off “Drum Crazy” in Easter Parade (a high standard to hold someone to, for sure), but we all know that Bill’s big moment is the “Bianca” dance break and it must deliver.

I agree with Here I Am in that there’s no point in picking the show apart too much now because it obviously is a work in progress with a way to go.

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I saw this on a whim tonight, buying one of the four remaining seats a few hours before. I hate to give my opinions after seeing a show once, because the second time usually I question all my first time opinions. But some observations.

I thought that the show was very polished, for its first preview, at least in the mechanical sense that nothing in the set proved to be hazardous and none of the dancers went flying. The chorus and in particular the dancers were very strong and the dances were vibrant. The long ovation for "Too Darn Hot" was deserved. I think another dance might have gotten the next longest ovation, perhaps the bawdy "Tom, Dick or Harry."

If the dancers were getting the biggest ovation, that may give you a clue about the rest of this production.

From her strong first act performances of "Why Can't You Behave" and "Tom, Dick or Harry," Stephanie Styles jumped out at me as a potential Tony nominee. My mind wasn't changed by the second act. "Always True to You in My Fashion," a song that I've had problems with in the past due to length and monotony, Stephanie sings about six verses in a charming way.

The other song that had bothered me as being long and irrelevant to be used so late in the second act was "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." I had an easier time with this song because there were only two gangsters and they kept the song down to five or six verses. I thought the audienced liked them.

I haven't said anything about Kelli O'Hara. Not sure what to say. I guess I think that she was under-utilized. She sang with the company the two well known and popular "Another Op'nin'" and "We Open in Venice." In between came the two really heartfelt songs of the production, "Wunderbar" as recollected by Fred and Lilli at the time of their marriage, and "So in Love." (About six years ago when I first seriously listened to the recording of the last revival, I liked Marin Mazzie so much in those two songs that I actually tweeted her to give praise. And she responded by highlighting it, or whatever you do on Twitter. After hearing Kelli sing these songs exactly once, I'll stay with Marin for now.)

The "Taming of the Shrew" enactment that closes Act 1 ends with a long and spirited fight between Katharine and Petruchio.To please the feminists, there is no spanking. But there are numerous punches and kicks, with Lily giving three for each that she took. That balances the books, I guess. Although initial audience reaction was good to this battle of the sexes, it went on too long without reaching a climax. Maybe they can fix this. I shouldn't forget that the title of "I am Ashamed That Women are Simple" was changed to "People are Simple." It's still one of the weaker songs coming at a climatic point.

In explaining her motivation for doing this production, Kelli said that she really wanted to explore the relationship between Katherine and Petruchio, discover why they had broken up although they were clearly still in love together. If any of this happened at this preview, I must have dozed of while it was going on. Not much continuity for Kelli with gangsters and bookies popping up in scenes. My memory may well be defective here, but I believe that Fred and Lilli had departed the stage still with odds well against any reconciliation, but the next morning they are a couple again. I didn't see any gradual warming up of the two to each other, but maybe I missed it.

Enjoyable for the audience but doubt many rave reviews. In the 20 years since the last revival, there has arisen a greater sin in a musical than not "empowering" women. The greater sin is having no message at all to convey to the audience.

If I have made any blatantly erroneous statements about this first preview, please allow me to blame in on my short-term memory. It isn't what it used to be. Perhaps the people who, wisely, won't give details on a first preview could give the areas where they think the most work is needed.

Dollypop said: ""I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple" is taken directly from Shakespeare (almost verbatim). To change it to "People" is wrong and misses the point the Bard was making in the play's denouement. This is blasphamy!

As I've said before, we're going overboard with political correctness. New works should rightly reflect current trends. Don't tamper with the classics!"

The Taming of the Shrew has been "tampered" with more than nearly any other Shakespeare work, except possibly Merchant of Venice, and has been a controversial work for centuries. Even Shaw famously found it problematic. It is not and has never been a work that has gone unchallenged, or even a work with a particularly clear statement on misogyny.

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I feel like the approach to some of these recent revivals of older musicals with problematic material has been really off base. I don't know that it "fixes" anything to make minor tweaks and changes to try and fool the audience and conceal the misogyny (or whatever it is) that's inherent in the material. It really doesn't help that nearly every major musical revival is directed by men (and often the same three or four men). I think there's much more to be learned from taking these shows as written and actually re-examining them from our current perspective, and working with what's on the page and having a point of view about it. And for goodness sake, women need to be at the helm more often.

perfectlymarvelous said: "I think there's much more to be learned from taking these shows as written and actually re-examining them from our current perspective, and working with what's on the page and having a point of view about it. And for goodness sake, women need to be at the helm more often."

This.

perfectlymarvelous said: "I feel like the approach to some of these recent revivals of older musicals with problematic material has been really off base. I don't know that it "fixes" anything to make minor tweaks and changes to try and fool the audience and conceal the misogyny (or whatever it is) that's inherent in the material. It really doesn't help that nearly every major musical revival is directed by men (and often the same three or four men). I think there's much more to be learned from taking these shows as written and actually re-examining them from our current perspective, and working with what's on the page and having a point of view about it. And for goodness sake, women need to be at the helm more often."

Yes, 100%!