Kiss Me Kate 1999 revival

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 7:03pm

I just got back from a fantastic production of Kiss Me, Kate in Chichester and while I was there both the 1999 cast recording and really enjoyed it. What did people think of this revival? I'm assuming it was the same production as the one with Rachel York that played in London?

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 7:44pm

I love the cast recording. Marin and Stokes have such great voices. Amy Spanger never sounded better, in my opinion.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 8:34pm

Over a decade later, it's still my favorite show/production ever.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 8:37pm

As much as I love Amy Spanger, Nancy Anderson's version of "Always True to You" is probably won't of the greatest performance of a song I have every seen.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 10:40pm

I thought it was a great revival and am very happy to have seen it. Not much more to say.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 10:40pm

I thought it was a great revival and am very happy to have seen it. Not much more to say.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 10:40pm

I thought it was a great revival and am very happy to have seen it. Not much more to say.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 10:41pm

I thought it was a great revival and am very happy to have seen it. Not much more to say.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 6/29/12 at 11:41pm

Not much more to say except say it 3 times?

[Jay94]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 1:28am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d6DMbtKxdc

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 8:26am

Loved it and it was the first Broadway musical my wife and I took our daughters to see. They are true Broadway "geeks" and it may be due to this great show.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 8:51am

Loved it except for the inclusion of "From This Moment On" sung by Harrison Howell. Brought the show to a screeching halt.

[peachesr82]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 9:21am

I only saw it in London, but I thought it was fantastic. It's always been my favourite Porter score anyway. I'm really excited to see the Chichester production.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 9:46am

The scene where Michael Berresse dances up the scaffolding is one of the best dance numbers ever.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 10:07am

This is the dance up the scaffolding in "Bianca" during which we all fell in love with Michael Beressse:

http://youtu.be/a1ZNKSMTFZc?t=2m32s

[peachesr82]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 10:49am

The Bianca choreography s superb and you're right, you do instantly fall for Beresse. I also thought the Too Darn Hot choreography was fantastic.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 11:01am

He's not the strongest singer, but he's one of the most charismatic, talented, and lively performers.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/30/12 at 11:39am

"This is the dance up the scaffolding in "Bianca" during which we all fell in love with Michael Beressse"

I fell for his Fred Casely in Chicago a few years earlier, PJ, but yes, his Bianca is incredible. The choreography is mostly his, too, all respect to Ms Marshall. Equity made him sign a waiver that absolved them if he got injured doing it. For the first year, his understudy was not allowed to perform the routine, but eventually David Elder was allowed a modified version of it.

"He's not the strongest singer, but he's one of the most charismatic, talented, and lively performers."

True about his singing voice, but he has an incredible speaking voice. He's also a remarkably nuanced actor. Catch him if you can in The Normal Heart in DC, Wynbish. His Act 2 breakdown as Mickey Marcus will rip your heart out.




Tom, Dick and Harry Updated On: 6/30/12 at 11:39 AM

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 7/1/12 at 12:00pm

The choreography is mostly his, too, all respect to Ms Marshall.

The specifics of the climb itself are mostly his. The rest of the choreography is Marshall's, though it of course includes acro that she knew Berresse could do. So I daresay "most" of it is Marshall's.

One tidbit: originally, that moment shortly before the climb where he feigns running hard stage left and then stops and give out a somewhat knowing chuckle under hi breath was a moment where he was to run up the wall and flip over (a la the trick that appears in some of the old movie muicals). They even had added a panel to the stage left side of the proscenium to try and make it work, but the trick couldn't be landed regularly so it was cut.

As for Spanger vs. Anderson, they each were great in their own right. But Spanger strutting down stage on the final chorus of "Always True To You", with Don Sebesky's orchestrations jazzing away at their finest, never failed to give me goosebumps.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/1/12 at 1:27pm

"One tidbit: originally, that moment shortly before the climb where he feigns running hard stage left and then stops and give out a somewhat knowing chuckle under hi breath was a moment where he was to run up the wall and flip over (a la the trick that appears in some of the old movie muicals). They even had added a panel to the stage left side of the proscenium to try and make it work, but the trick couldn't be landed regularly so it was cut."

I'm curious to to where that tidbit comes from. It seems a little hard to believe Berresse could do all those other things, but couldn't reliably manage Donald O'Connor's simple backflip off an inclined wall, especially when he does it without the benefit of an inclined wall in the very same video. What you don't see on PJ's video is Berresse's second run stage left, when he takes a running leap at the stairs, only to grab the upright at the last second to spin himself around it before climbing the set.

Updated On: 7/1/12 at 01:27 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/1/12 at 1:33pm

It was one of four breathtakingly spectacular dance solos I have seen in my theater-going life: the other two were Donna McKechnie (in Comapny and Chorus Line) and the fourth was Gene Nelson's "The Right Girl" in the original production of Follies.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/1/12 at 1:42pm

If you want a good this-will-get-me-drunk drinking game, watch the show on YouTube or DVD, and take a shot when Berresse does a random laugh, "heh" or "awww/ohhh". I love them.

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 7/1/12 at 4:19pm

Here's an interview with Michael at The Normal Heart at Arena Stage in DC. He is one helluva talented singer, dancer, director and actor

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/1/12 at 4:22pm

^ Interview

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/1/12 at 4:23pm

And then there are these:

Updated On: 7/1/12 at 04:23 PM