Kiss Me, Kate

Kiss Me, Kate (1948), a musical comedy by Sam and Bella Spewack (book), Cole Porter (music, lyrics). [New Century Theatre, 1,077 perf.; Tony Award.] The stars of the new musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, currently trying out in Baltimore, are the egomaniac Fred Graham ( Alfred Drake) and the temperamental Lilli Vanessi ( Patricia Morison), who were once married to each other but are now divorced and still bickering with each other. Lilli receives a bouquet from Fred, leading her to believe he still loves her, but when she learns the flowers are meant for the flirty Lois Lane ( Lisa Kirk), she determines to be revenged by walking out on the show. Fred's problems are compounded when another member of the company, Bill Calhoun ( Harold Lang), signs Fred's name to a gambling debt. Opening night is peppered by warfare between Fred and Lilli, and by the demands by two comic hoods for payment of the IOU. Fred convinces the hoods that they must force Lilli to perform in order to get their money, which they do until their boss is wiped out and the IOU becomes invalid. Just as Shakespeare's Kate and Petruchio come to terms on stage, so do Fred and Lilli make up backstage. Notable songs: Wunderbar; So in Love; Always True to You in My Fashion; Brush Up Your Shakespeare; Too Darn Hot; Why Can't You Behave? Called by Brooks Atkinson “a blissfully enjoyable musical show,” the work is generally acknowledged as Porter's masterpiece. Not only did he employ Shakespearean lines and whole passages with wit and taste, but his songs actually seemed to come out of and be a part of the libretto, both in the Shrew scenes and in the backstage story, a rare thing for the cavalier composer. The Saint Subber–Lemuel Ayers production was an immediate hit and the musical has been revived in all venues ever since, most recently a 1999 production that was popular on Broadway and the West End.