Kiss Me Kate Review

Sheffield Crucible – until 12 January 2019

Reviewed by Lottie Davis-Browne

3***

Following the huge success of Annie Get Your Gun, Director Paul Foster returns to Sheffield with the 1948 classic Kiss Me Kate.

The musical was inspired by the on-stage/off-stage battling of husband-and-wife actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne during their 1953 production of Shrew, witnessed by future Broadway producer Arnold Saint-Subber. In 1947 he asked the Samuel and Bella Spewack (the book writers, who were undergoing their own marital woes at the time) to write the script; Bella Spewack then enlisted Cole Porter to write the music and lyrics.

The story opens with a theatre company rehearsing ahead of their opening night of a tour in Baltimore of their production of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The opening number – Another Op’nin’, Another Show introduces the audience to the full theatre company – from the wardrobe department to the lighting guys (who in my opinion have one of the most difficult roles in this production – working at such heights yet fully visible to the audience), the live band behind the theatre company’s stage set, as the company prepare for yet another touring production and all the fun and mayhem that comes with it.

The Company Director and Producer – the self obsessed  Fred Graham (Edward Baker-Duly) is also staring in the production as Petruchio alongside his movie-star ex-wife Lilli Vanessi, (Rebecca Lock) who is playing Katherine (Kate). The pair bicker constantly and Lilli is particularly ferocious, especially with Fred pursuing the younger actress Lois Lane (Amy Ellen Richardson). When there’s a mix-up sending some first night flowers to Lilli (from Fred) with the card being addressed to Lois, Lilli sees red and confronts Fred on stage. Meanwhile Lois’ boyfriend Bill (Dex Lee) has skipped rehearsals to go place a bet having had some recent luck with gambling, but when he loses money he signs a $10,000 debt in Fred’s name. (Why Can’t You Behave?)

It isn’t long until two gangsters (Delroy Atkinson and Joel Montague) appear in Fred’s dressing room demanding the $10,000 they claim he owes them. At first Fred insists there has been a misunderstanding but when Lilli threatens to leave the production before the end of the tour, he spots an opportunity to make her stay and it isn’t long until Lilli is threatened by the pair of crooks to stay and to ensure she continues with the show, the pair find themselves thrown into the unfamiliar world of show business. Cue barrels of laughter! I particularly loved Delroy Atkinsons’ performance for the comedy he brought to the production. His facial expressions when he found himself performing in the middle of a Shakespearean production were priceless.

Prior to this evenings performance I had very little knowledge on the musical, apart from being familiar with a couple of the bigger numbers (Another Op’nin’, Another Show It’s Too Darn Hot and Brush Up Your Shakespeare), however I waited for months in excitement to see it, having thoroughly adored Paul Foster’s last work with Sheffield Theatres – Annie Get Your Gun. After seeing Rebecca Lock in Heathers The Musical earlier this year, I was also keen to see her in something else. From the opening number it was clear to see that casting for this production had been done based on strong vocals. Locks flawless operatic vocals had the audience in a stunned silence – with each big number she sang resulting in deafening applause and cheers.

Her character is an aggressive, fierce and feisty one – which really comes through in her rendition of I Hate Men – during which at one point in the song Lock approached a man sat on the front row and with much laughter from the audience – directed the characters anger and utter hatred to the male species. Gosh I’m not even a man and I was scared stiff of her! Locks humour and wit continues as Katherine is forced to continue with the production whilst being held hostage by the two gangsters.

Whilst I find The Taming of The Shrew and anything remotely Shakespeare tedious, I enjoyed this production for the strong vocals from the lead characters and the sensational choreography (Matt Flint) – particularly in Too Darn Hot. My biggest bug bear however was the duration – at just under three hours long with a short interval, I felt the constant back and forth of the story – from on stage to off stage (Lilli to Kate, Fred to Petruchio etc) was somewhat nauseating, making me feel I was aboard the titanic with the constant choppiness of changing from one character to the next.

Whilst there were plenty of great elements to this production, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat deflated following all the hype leading up to it. If you’re a fan of older musicals then this one is certainly for you, however if like myself you tend to steer clear of the old time classics then maybe wait for Sheffield Theatre’s next season which boasts some of the best up-to-date musicals to come from the West End. From Kinky Boots to Avenue Q and a screen-to-stage adaptation of The Life of Pi, there’s still time to ask Santa for tickets to one of the upcoming productions scheduled for 2019.