Kiss Me, Kate

Several Adelaide companies have significant anniversary years in 2023 and for the Hills Musical Company they have launched their 50 year celebrations by re-mounting the original, and their first production of Kiss Me, Kate. Directed by the well-known and experienced director Hayley Horton, she has gathered together 22 performers and an excellent 14-person orchestra conducted by Ben Stefanoff to present this musical that ran at a little less than three hours. Kiss Me, Kate was originally produced in 1948, and is considered one of Broadway's great treasures. It was revived on Broadway in 1999, taking advantage of new technology in music and reflecting evolving social values. This Revised Version by Concord Theatricals runs at just over two hours and features a brand-new orchestration and a refined script.

Those of us who love both classic musicals and the works of the bard will no doubt love this show, which features some of theatre’s most beloved and well known songs including ‘So In Love,’ ‘Wunderbar’, ‘Another Op’nin, Another Show’, ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’ and ‘Too Darn Hot.’ Written by four writers, the music and lyrics are by the 40’s and 50’s revered writer, Cole Porter, the book by Sam and Bella Spewack and the Shakespearian sections written by no less than William Shakespeare himself.

The story captures the clever twists and turns of one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, Taming of The Shrew, where beautiful leading lady Lilli Vanessi is thrown together with her handsome and charismatic ex-husband, director and leading man, Fred Graham. They battle both on and off stage with their lives mirroring the play and the play ultimately taking over their lives.

The casting of Daniel Hamilton as Fred and Petruchio and Claire McEvoy as Lilli and Katherine saw two very fine singers who brought life, energy and comedy to their roles. Whilst there was a little issue with sound mixing early in the show, these two very professional performers were unphased and undaunted. They were wonderfully complemented by a number of supporting leads and the ensemble, whose singing (and dancing) was a joy to see and hear. Madi Grey as Bianca oozed froth and bubble, and is a confident and skilled singer who can really ‘sell a song’, while ‘man about town’, Kristian Latella, always smiling and totally professional, was somewhat underused as Bill and Lucentio. Jamie Wright as the alternate love interest was appropriately stuffy, despite struggling somewhat with his number with Lilli, my all time show favourite, ‘From This Moment On’.

I was always entranced by the 1953 film version of Kiss Me, Kate and whilst Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson were no slouches, my favourites have always been Keenan Wynn as Lippy and James Whitmore as Slug, a pair of thugs sent to collect gambling dues who become secreted into the cast, with lots of outrageous ‘business’. Michael Butler and Richard Greig clearly loved these two roles and in fact, for me, could have been even ‘bigger.’

I must comment on the consistently good work by 11-person ensemble, who tackled choreography that would make experienced dancers puff and pant! Notable of course was the Dance Captain Paul, who was a shameless scene stealer and brilliant dancer. The ensemble was also vocally consistently excellent. It appears that anyone with the surname Stefanoff is fabulously talented, covering piano, dancing and conducting!

Vanessa Redmond, assisted by Mark Stefanoff, took on a huge and complex choreography plot. I attended with a large group of appreciative locals who commented that several of the dance numbers felt long and unnecessary when bridging some of the scenes. Given that it is the old style version where dance was a highlight, the newest version may address this. Having said that, the dancing, although a bit crowded, was tackled with gusto!

The staging, and well-designed set, as usual at Stirling, was clever and well done. Of note was the set, and particularly backdrop painting. The movable backdrops were beautiful to look at and creatively executed.  Costumes by Anna Grosser and Marie Dineen were outstanding for the Elizabethan scenes. Congratulations to the ladies for authentic hairstyles. That really adds to the story. The lighting by Scott Lorien and Katherine Rosen was warm, bright and beautiful and particularly enhanced the beautiful celebratory scenes.

The Hills Musical Company will be present Carrie, based on Stephen King’s novel, in November 2023.

Jude Hines