There’s a reason why Cole Porter’s music remains so popular decades after his death, and that reason is abundantly clear in Lyric Theatre’s current production of Kiss Me, Kate, a musical re-telling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew. Despite my feminist qualms about parts of the plot (more on that later), I enjoyed a fun high-energy evening of singing and dancing at the show’s invited dress rehearsal on Wednesday night and am still humming the Porter-penned tunes this afternoon.
The musical performances are unquestionably the highlight of this show. “Too Darn Hot”, the ensemble dance number that kicks off Act II, is practically worth the price of admission all by itself and is ably led by the charismatic James Washington. Leads Ruth Kenney and Anson Woodin sparkle in the duet “Wunderbar” as their characters, Lilli and Fred, reminisce about their past together. Christopher Anderson’s character of General Howell initially seemed so staid that he surprised me by becoming a bit of a scene stealer in his duet with Lilli, “From This Moment On”. When it came to stealing scenes, though, no one did it better than Caitlin Richardson and Ellen Magee as the culture-loving gangsters at the theater to collect on a gambling debt. Their “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” late in Act II definitely caused the most sustained laughter of the night.
The music is performed by an orchestra visible at the back of the stage and by a jazz ensemble placed to the side of the stage, and the combination works well for the most part. There were a few times when Porter’s immortal lyrics were drowned out by the volume of the accompanying music. Hopefully those technical issues can be ironed out quickly for the rest of the show’s run.
My only real word of caution as you decide whether to go to this show or not: What always keeps me from falling 100% in love with Kiss Me, Kate as a show is how dated aspects of the “taming” battle-of-the-sexes plot are. I love older musicals and am always prepared to make some allowances for the time period when a show was written, but in this case a fight scene where the two romantic leads become physically violent with each other goes well beyond my own personal comfort level. The fight’s climax sees Lilli humiliated by being spanked onstage by Fred and her resulting painful bruising is then treated as a source of humor for the rest of the show. This is especially unsettling in this production because it is clearly set in 2016 (there are references to the presidential race, Downton Abbey, steampunk and Twitter, amongst other things). This pretty much eliminates the “Well, it was a different time” argument and makes it difficult not to judge the characters’ behavior by 2016 standards.
So, it’s up to you whether the draw of well-performed Cole Porter songs and exuberant dance numbers outweighs the strong possibility of feeling unsettled by the show’s sexism. For me, the talented cast and creative team did make it well worthwhile and that I’m glad that I got the chance to see the show despite the handful of uncomfortable moments along the way.