Kiss Me Kate with York and Barrett Reairs Tonight on PBS- Page 2

[Joshua488]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 4:32am

I think Rachel York is fantastic in this performance. Her voice is so versatile; she can switch from legit to belting to screaming back to legit without batting an eye. She is flawless.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 8:23am

I'm annoyed by the blocking of "Always True To You..." All the slamming of doors by Bill, and Lois having to look up at him, seems to steal Lois' moment and take away from the greatness of the song.

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 9:16am

I saw this production in New York, but I was at a matinee so didn't get to see BSM as Graham.

Brian Stokes Mitchell didn't do matinees? When did you see the show? I saw a matinee of the Broadway production and Stokes was definitely in.

[Mamie]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 10:21am

I agree with everything you said, jewishboy. I love Rachel but I really preferred Marin in this. (Carolee was great too.) Stokes was entertaining and of course he sang the roof off - I just think he's one of the worst actors I've ever seen. Barrett was definitely better. I too missed Amy Spanger but I'm thrilled to have Michael's performance preserved for all time. (I bought the DVD a long time ago.)

The most irritating part of this is the switch between live performance (in front of an audience) and those filmed without an audience. The audience is such a critical part of any B'way show that it makes those scenes pretty much fall flat.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 10:24am

They tried to turn it into a movie, and have the audience only there for "Shrew"

[MimiJudith]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 10:34am

Was this performance dubbed? It seemed that way.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 10:37am

"The most irritating part of this is the switch between live performance (in front of an audience) and those filmed without an audience."

They also sort of did this with the Hugh Jackman "Oklahoma". You can tell it was done without an audience, but every so often they try to make you believe there is an audience present.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 11:27am

"I can't find it to set my TiVo to!!! "

It's available on DVD.

[Boq101]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 11:29am

That might be why the Video Recording of Victor/Victoria seemed ot me to be a lot more fun. They were filming with an audience, so every odd look or line got this reaction, wheter it was applause, laughter, and that odd change in the air that happens (or maybe that's just wind...).

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 11:37am

I thought everyone had this already on DVD. It was released quite some time ago and is always in those $5 bins at Wal-Mart.

[Boq101]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 11:42am

At my Wal-Mart they took them down because the manager thinks those are "fairy videos" and he puts up old westerns instead. Such a shame...

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 11:45am

I wanted to watch this but it didn't air in my area

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 12:56pm

i noticed a difference between the dvd and the pbs airing. on pbs the appluause after "another op'ning..." is present, as are a few of the laughs, on the dvd they are absent not a huge thing but it makes such a big difference to not have thta huge number end in dead silence

[keen on kean]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 1:23pm

I saw a Sunday matinee - with Foard (sp?) who is okay but didn't bring much to the part. He may in fact have been an u/s and the management made it sound like it was standard practice. In any event, it lacked any sparks! Was I disappointed - you bet! It is one of my favorite musicals of all time.

[WickedRentEder]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 1:54pm

I have to agree with JewishBoy on almost everything. I do think Stokes is better in the role than Brent Barrett. Stokes & Marin were REALLY good on stage. Marin is a much better version of Lily than Rachel (and I like Rachel -- she was great as Norma in Victor/Victoria).

Also wasn't thrilled with the woman who played Lily's assistant (her name escapes me). Harriet Lennox had a MUCH better voice.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 5:03pm

WickedRentEder, Kaye E. Brown plays the role of Hattie on the PBS special. Adriane Lenox played the role on Broadway.

I didn't see Marin Mazzie play Lilli Vanessi, but vocally (based on the cast recording), I prefer Rachel York.

[broadway86]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 5:16pm

I'm lukewarm on this taped version. I loved the Broadway revival (with Stokes and Mazzie), but this version has some things against it. I loved Barrett and York, but I didn't care for Nancy Anderson or Kaye E. Brown. At all. Berresse was very charming, and the two gangsters were hilarious.

[triple_threat]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 5:20pm

oh i have that on dvd. i believe they sell it on the pbs site.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 6:01pm

broadway86- i agree with you opinion on brown's hattie. anderson's lois took some getting used to but i think it had some merit. My only problem is that anderson and york were relatively the same age (anderson is a year older actually) I feel that lilli should be a bit older than lois.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 12:43am

It's on again and boy was Hattie flat!

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 2:08pm

KM,K is my favorite musical of all time. I can't believe I missed this, but I'll just have to watch the DVD again.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 12:37pm

Aww, I was in Bermuda. I've seen this a couple of times on DVD, but would have loved to tape this!

Another example of Rachel York's amazing versatility.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 9:26pm

PBS' schedules are all haphazard--I remember how long i had to wait for the local PBS to air Light in the Piazza. So keep checking your PBS website etc for the next few weeks

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 12/30/06 at 11:20pm

I saw this staging in 4 different forms- the Broadway cast with Burke Moses and Marin, the DVD with Brent and Rachel, then the touring cast in 2 cities (both with Rachel York)- one with Rex Smith and one with Chuck Wagner covering for Rex.

I have to say that vocally it's hard to beat Stokes in most roles, and he is just so damn good on the CD. Burke was very amusing onstage and did a fine Stokes impression it seemed. Brent Barrett and Rex were both good in certain aspects (Brent vocally and Rex in the acting dept) but both seemed a little weak in the other area. Brent was a little boring, and Rex doesn't have the strongest voice. I may be biased, being a lifelong fan, but I really thought Chuck was brilliant in the role, and my personal favorite. His voice is perfectly suited, his acting was pretty good, and just his physical size and presence made him extremely fitting as Fred. When he lifted Rachel onto his shoulder, it looked like he was carrying a vicious, flailing child. And Rachel, being a comic genius, adapted her acting appropriately. Great chemistry between the two.

As far as Lillis go, it's tough cuz I saw Rachel 3 times to Marin's 1. Marin is a better singer I think, but Rachel is hard to out-funny.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/31/06 at 1:39am

PBS videos are release dint he 5 dollar bin at Wallmart? what classy wallmarts are these?

When I watched on PBS ages back--I only sorta half watched but I thought it was taped live--was this really a Oklahoma situation where they filmedon a soundstage and shoved in a few bad audience reactions (the same was done by Trevor Nunn a decade back when he had his production of Porgy and Bess filmed for tv--in both cases I find the results very odd and somehow lifeless. Funny as Passion was filmed without an audience and it works wonderfully but I think it helps they still filmed it in its real theatre not transfered to a soundstage)