KISS ME, KATE (2019 Roundabout Revival) - Previews — Page 5

Seems like you're the one who is so sensitive about it.

If most think the same as you then definitely leave it out.

I would like my favorite Kelli O'Hara to do well in this, and from my observations and the feedback coming back it seems like she is not making a great impression so far. As one person put it, she needed to get herself far more over the top. Have you checked out Rachel and the actress in Proms14?

Just a thought that the spanking might make Kelly get down to being earthier and would focus all attention on her to see her reaction. It's a great place to get a laugh.

Having made the point, I say no more. If it upsets people here then that is more important. But it is just slapstick.

This is certainly an odd one for lack of a better word... This is a top notch production. The cast is great. The set and costumes are quite impressive and grand. The dancing is awesome. All this being said, though, this production feels flat.

Kelli O’Hara and Will Chase are at the top of their games vocally and play well off of each other. However, neither of them are ever over the top. They seem to be playing their characters with restraint, which doesn’t really work for this show.

The set and costumes are very well done and quite impressive. No expenses were spared here. The transitions between the various locations inside the theatre where the show is set are seamless. Overall, it’s a cohesive and graceful design.

Roundabout (usually) knocks their musical revivals out of the park. I found Anything Goes and She Loves Me to be prestigious and thrilling. Kiss Me, Kate reminded me a lot of their production On the Twentieth Century a couple seasons ago. Great cast, a beautiful set, but it just felt like a production you would see at Paper Mill Playhouse or any other top notch regional theatre.

I really wanted to love this, but it just didn’t thrill me in any way. It’s a perfectly passable production for sure, and it’s not bad by any means, but it’s also just not particularly exciting. I was much more entertained with the Great Performances version with Rachel York and Brent Barrett that I watched than I was with this production.

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Nice Work was just a throw-away that she might have done because it was funl

You should have seen Kelli in Pajama Game with Harry Connick, Jr.

This performance, which has become the highlight of her concerts, I think will show you her other side.

For all those who have seen this multiple times, please skip.

They Won't Let You in the Opera if You're a Country Star

https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Q2PBOAbdIcU

I have seen Kelli O'Hara in quite a few things before Kiss Me, Kate, and I have loved her to pieces in all of them. Kiss Me, Kate was the first time I, personally, felt like she was truly miscast. She just did not deliver the sass that the character needs. She has a lovely voice, and she sang the songs flawlessly, but her performance felt like it was at a 20 when it should have been at a 120 with boldness and sass

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Owen22 said: "I have long said she is just not the right actress for the role. There are not a lot of roles fit for Megan Hilty. BUT HERE WAS ONE!!! She could have killed."

I would KILL to see Megan Hilty in this.

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Kristin has, at last count, around 17 new musicals she says she’s “working on”.

FANtomFollies said: "Another Glinda - wouldn't Kristin Chenoweth have been a great choice to headline this as well? It would have really turned this into 'an event' in my opinion."

To me Lilli Vanessi as a character seems to be quite similar to Lily Garland of the On the Twentieth Century, so I doubt Kristin Chenoweth would want to repeat herself so soon, especially with those new musicals she is supposed to work on.

Saw the show this afternoon, and I agree with the consensus. It’s good but not great. Kelli can definitely go farther with her character’s dramatic personality. It was good. That’s kind of all I have to say about that.

My thoughts exactly One of the worst musical revivals I’ve ever seen Kelli is lost, Will isn’t funny and works way too hard, Stephanie is annoying and the show is charmless and director-less OH and the “choreography”



Skip23 said: "Where to begin?

Scott Ellis sinks another one. IMHO, his sketchy direction has sunk She Loves Me, 20th Century, Company, Steel Pier, 1776, Picnic and many others. He's a third tier kinda guy.

What a disaster! Worse than Disaster!

I'm reading that they're trying to update the show to make it more relatable to current audiences. In doing so, they've drained all the fun, outrageousness and show-biz out of the show. Porter and the Spewacks are spinning.

Someone needs to tell Will Chase, Kelli O'Hara and Scott Ellis that good pacing of lines doesn't mean rushing all of them so we lose the intention of the lines. And what's the deal with enunciation? Or severe lack of it. I lost many of Porter's brilliant lyrics. Critically in Tom, Dick or Harry and Always True To You (I forgot what a great song it is).

And you know you're in trouble when Brush Up Your Shakespeare barely registers on the stage. What's up with THAT??? Throwaway blocking and bad enunciation for 2.

Kelli O'Hara always comes across to me as too modern, off-the-cuff and slight. Great in Pajama Game and Brigadoon. Not so great in so many other things. She's too, well, little here. Chase is also missing the grand gestures and voice. And again, those rushing lines.

The less said about Lilly's lover and the gangsters, the better. Corbin Bleu is always an asset, but underutilized here. Stephanie Styles is all over the place and ultimately annoying.

Never liked Carlyle's choreography and he doesn't disappoint me here. Unmemorable and bland. And, just a question, why in "Too Darn Hot" are they jumping for 16 beats if it's so hot? Nit-picking...but still... And why is Lilly plopped in the opening dance just sitting on a chair blocking the dancers?

I could go on and on. I was just angry that they stripped the joy and spirit of the original. Stupid.
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I was really looking forward to this and was terribly disappointed. Just because you have a great voice does not make this a good show. I found it charmless. There was no connection between the leads. And I wish Will Chase would just have picked a key to sing in and stuck to it. He was all over the place. They both did not grasp their characters.

It was my first time seeing Kiss Me Kate and I had a good time. Lilli Vanessi is not a character I think of when I think of Kelli. Vanessi doesn’t explore an inner journey to any depth which works against Kelli’s strengths in my opinion.

I still thought she sounded magnificent and performed well. That opening staging with her sitting in the center felt off. I didn’t miss the spanking and frankly felt that the plate-throwing scene was quite awful. She did not seem at ease and the whole thing just felt like dated slapstick that no longer works. I personally don’t want to see anyone get hit so if they remove the spanking then remove the plate throwing scene as well.

i can’t believe that no one has mentioned Will Burton yet. I constantly keep thinking of his performance in this. His solo in Tom, Dick or Harry was what I will remember most.

I saw the show on Wednesday afternoon and I really enjoyed it.

I wasn’t familiar with the material beforehand and didn’t realize how many of the songs I knew from Cole’s canon of music.

I am one who finds Kelli O’Hara to be vocally wonderful, but I feel like she plays the same role over and over again. I felt she did a major step out of her comfort level in this and was wonderful.

Will Chase was fantastic, and he and Kelli have terrific chemistry. I adore Corbin Bleu and he’s an absolute star so getting to see him back singing and dancing his face off was a joy.

I saw Stephanie Styles on the Newsies tour and really loved her and I think she’s making a very nice debut in this.

The choreography was fantastic (Too Darn Hot and Tom, Dick, or Harry were big highlights) and I liked the set design a lot.

Melissa - Will Burton is fantastic and I'm so glad to see someone mention his fantastic work in Tom, Dick, or Harry. Along with his run in Hello Dolly and work in the ensemble of Holiday Inn, I had the pleasure of seeing Will as Henri in An American In Paris and he really is one fantastic performer.

schubox - I also hate the mezz at Studio 54 but I knew immediately after I got my ticket from TodayTix it was going to involve being squished into the mezz again.

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Updated On: 3/1/19 at 09:24 AM