Kiss Me is updated Taming
Reviewed by Sarah Hansel / Sacramento Stage & Theatre
Clockwise from top:  Paul Schoeffler as Fred/Petruchio, Toni Trucks as Lois/Bianca, Kevin Spirtas as Bill/Lucentio and Lynne Wintersteller as Lilli/Katharine in the 2007 Music Circus production of Cole Porter’s KISS ME, KATE at the Wells Fargo Pavilion.  Photo by Charr Crail.
    It’s “another op’nin, another show” and this time, KISS ME, KATE is running at the Music Circus for the second time since 1996.
     This show, famous for its music by Cole Porter, is based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. Yet while Shakespeare himself was (and still is) revered for his classic tales, KISS ME, KATE’s strengths lay more in its music than its storyline.
    The plot of KISS ME, KATE, a play-within-a-play, focuses on two actors who used to be married and are now playing the lead roles in Taming of the Shrew.
     Their hatred for each other at the beginning of the play is heated and amusing, but the audience can see that they still truly love each other.
     The characters themselves are inherently likeable—Lilli Vanessi (Lynne Winterstellar) is full of fire and spunk, and Fred Graham (Paul Schoeffler) is sarcastic and charming. As the play progresses, scenes alternate between the actors performing Taming of the Shrew and the actors conversing backstage, and it becomes clear that the relationship between Lilli and Fred mirrors the one between Katherine and Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew.
    Even though about half of  KISS ME, KATE consists of scenes from Taming of the Shrew, these scenes are riddled with musical and dance numbers and barely resemble Shakespeare.
     This, however, was not a setback to the play—in fact, these numbers actually redeemed it from being somewhat empty and flat. I was not as intrigued by the lovers’ tussles as the music itself. Whereas Taming of the Shrew is a famous and beloved story, KISS ME, KATE did little more than rework the plot into a 1940’s-setting and add some humorous accents (i.e., bumbling thugs). In addition, I thought the show ended rather abruptly and without illustrating a real point.
     In fact, at times it seemed like the storyline and the music of KISS ME, KATE were entirely different entities, instead of being two elements of the same show. Each act opened with a song-- “Another Op’nin, Another Show” and “Too Darn Hot”, respectively—which, although extremely entertaining to watch, didn’t quite seem to fit with the plot.
     However, overall, the music itself was catchy, upbeat, and fun, and the cast brought it to life beautifully with vibrant costumes, energetic choreography and stellar voices. Lisa’s voice in particular stood out to me as being almost operatic. The rest of the cast was also excellent—Lois Lane (Toni Trucks) was a wonderful, comedic actress with a unique voice and a talent for dance, and the two thugs (Barry Pearl and Herschel Sparber), hired to force Lisa to continue the play when she tries to escape, were hilarious.
    Even if the story of KISS ME, KATE was somewhat weak, the strength of the music, acting and dancing managed to hold it together and make it into a play worth seeing. After all, they wouldn’t be called musicals if they weren’t truly about the music, would they?
    KISS ME, KATE continues at Music Circus through Aug. 5. Performances are nightly at 8 p.m., except for Sunday, Aug. 5, at 7:30 p.m. A matinee is at 2 p.m.  on Saturday, Aug. 4. Tickets for KISS ME, KATE are currently on sale at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office at 1419 H Street, Sacramento, by phone at (916) 557-1999.  Tickets are also available on line at www.SacramentoMusicCircus.com.
    The 2007 Music Circus season will continue with ANNIE (August 7 – 12), HELLO, DOLLY! (August 14 – 19), JEKYLL & HYDE (August 21 – 26) and 1776 (August 29 – September 2.
Return to Sacramento Stage & Theatre