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By Eric Marchese Special to the Register
Kissable
'Kate' Captures the Late 40's
Musical Theatre West in Long Beach melds the original and revival versions of the Cole Porter hit.
Had famed acting couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne not quarreled so tempestuously backstage during a 1935 production of "The Taming of the Shrew," the great "backstage" musical comedy "Kiss Me, Kate" might never have been born.
As it stands, the 1948 musical reunited veteran comedy writers Sam and Bella Spewack, provided yet another Broadway hit for composer-lyricist Cole Porter and went on to a 1,070-performance run and captured five Tony Awards.
Through modest alterations, including Arthur and Lois Elias' libretto revisions, the 1999 Broadway revival also nabbed five Tony Awards.
Musical Theatre West's production of this version at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center is slick, highly polished and Broadway-worthy. Director Richard Sparks' staging scales back the revival version while merging it with the flavor of the original, for a hot, saucy take on the show. Rented from the most recent national tour, Jeff Modereger's scenic design is retro, late '40s-early '50s, while the costumes, based on Martin Pakledinaz's original designs, are colorful and visually splendid.
We're at Ford's Theatre in Baltimore, where producer, director and actor Fred Graham (David Engel) is sweating out the opening of his latest show, an all-new musical version of "The Taming of the Shrew" with himself as Petruchio and his hot-blooded estranged wife, theater superstar Lilli Vanessi (Elizabeth Ward Land), as Katharine, the Shrew.
Naturally, Fred and Lilli's roles mirror their stormy personal life. Naturally, the show-within-a-show structure allows Porter to write tongue-in-cheek songs for Fred's "onstage" version of "Shrew" as well as more heartfelt numbers for the "backstage" goings-on of Fred's troupe.
Stephen Gothold's musical direction captures the voluptuous, jazzy, '40s big band sound of Peter Felcher's ingenious new orchestrations. This staging preserves the two elongated numbers that open each act - the elaborate "Another Op'nin', Another Show" and a sizzling "Too Darn Hot" - to full and dazzling effect, boosted by Jane Lanier's choreography, technically marvelous without being overwhelming.
Sparks
is determined to paint the principals as less comical, more romantic (and
realistic). Downplaying Fred's bruising arrogance and egotism is Engel's
persona. More akin to Warren Beatty's lighter comedic roles, he makes Fred
more sympathetic - and invests him with more bravado and passion - than
usual. Engel also forces his singing voice down into the baritone range
without ill effect - his songs are as stirring as they ought to be. In both
her characterization and her singing, Land is a proud but vulnerable Lilli,
handling with ease the lower range of the revival arrangements in a voice
that's lovely and captivating.
William Akey and Elna Binckes are capable in the rather pedestrian secondary leads of Bill and Lois. While it's hard to picture the boyish Akey as a gambling addict, Binckes is a sweet yet sexy ingenue. Lilli's beau, General Harrison Howell (Noah York), is less clownish - still pompous, but more likable - than in previous versions, and Sparks also hints at a budding romance between Fred and Lilli's personal dressers, Paul (Gerry McIntyre) and Hattie (Carol Dennis).
About the only two characters who escape sentimentalization are David Holladay and Roy Leake Jr. as the two nameless gangsters whose presence gums up Fred's "Shrew" and puts the plot of "Kate" into overdrive. With their malapropisms, natty pinstripe suits and mock-dandified manners, they hijack this staging. Given our full attention as they spout Porter's outrageous rhymes in "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," they show why, as early as 1949, "Kate" was considered the greatest show Porter ever wrote.
7/16/2004
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