Kiss Me, Kate

Arnold Saint Subber—his name even sounds like a musical comedy character—wasn’t the first to notice that backstage goings-on sometimes mirror the scenes onstage, and even exceed them in dramatic pretense and flamboyant comedy. Nor would he be the last. But while serving as stage manager for a production of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Subber observed one of the more celebrated couples in 20th century Broadway theatre—Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine—acting out as well as acting, and the idea for his first show as a producer was born.
 
It became Kiss Me, Kate, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Porter had begun writing witty hits in the 1920s, became a Broadway legend in the 1930s with hit shows starring the likes of Fred Astaire, Jimmy Durante and Ethel Merman, but his popularity faded in the 40s. Badly injured in a riding accident and in pain for the rest of his life, Porter agreed to try once more with this Broadway show, principally because he had to abandon California and live in New York for awhile to avoid IRS penalties.

 In 1948 Kiss Me, Kate became his longest running success, and its music is often considered his best. The story mixes a couple of star-crossed romances among actors in a low-rent production of Taming of the Shrew, with some Shakespeare (more or less) as part of the action.

 But at heart it’s more of a show business story, as reflected in several of its songs (The famous “Another Opening, Another Show,” and “Too Darn Hot” as well as the characteristically catchy “We Open in Venice”) There are also a couple of lovable gangsters to add danger to what passes for a plot. It’s easy to guess that this story influenced movies like Shakespeare in Love and My Favorite Year, as well as the theatrical farce, Noises Off.

 In 1953, Kiss Me, Kate became the first and probably the only musical movie to be released in 3-D, and it was done several times for television (my soundtrack album is from the 1968 Armstrong Circle Theatre series, starring Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence--with choral arrangements by Ray Charles.)

 These days, its politically incorrect aspects makes it a harder sell, and today’s theatre is less familiar with this kind of music, and this kind of musical. But North Coast Rep is meeting the challenge with a production that updates some stage elements while remaining true to its essential style and spirit.

 Backed by a live band, the big production numbers (choregraphed by Rebecca Rubenstein) are energetic and enthusiastic, but this style of musical provides special opportunities for solos and duets, and that’s where the really transcendent moments occur. In the female lead as Lilli (and Kate, in the Shakespeare play within the play), Minderella Willens brings her formidable voice, on display in many colors, particularly in the growling, booming, comic tour de force, “I Hate Men.”

 Darcy Daughtry plays the second female lead (Lois Lane/Bianca) and brings down the house with her sexy, superpowered second act solo, “Always True to You in My Fashion.” Daughtry, like Willens, has a superb and thrilling voice.

 But while the verbal wit runs out about halfway through “Always True…” it only accelerates in “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” done to perfection by the dynamic duo of Phil Zastrow and Rigel Schmitt as the theatre-loving gangsters turned song-and-dance men. Their performance was the moment I felt truly transported to Broadway in its Cole Porter prime. I believe I even detected a brief Jimmy Durante homage. These three numbers alone are worth the price of admission.

Anthony Mankins brings leading man looks and presence to Fred/Petruchio, and Jordan Matteoli is a pleasing second lead as Bill/Lucentio. Gene Cole as General Howell adds a needed jolt of comic focus towards the end of an increasingly halfhearted plot. While the ensemble singing and dancing styles mostly suggest a vaudevillish variety, there’s a bit more of a Bob Fosse approach that begins “Too Darn Hot” opening the second act, a sizzling set piece featuring local favorite, Pryncz Lotoj.

 With direction by Xande Zublin-Meyer (Dianne Zuleger is musical director), the cast finds every double entendre in both Cole Porter and Shakespeare—including one that Porter may not have intended. I detected a few post-1948 references in the jokes, but on opening night the audience still got the one about Truman and Dewey. Scenic designer Calder Johnson suggests the seedy theatrical milieu while allowing plenty of always scarce stage space for the singing and dancing. Not all aspects of opening night went smoothly, but there was plenty of energy and invention that promises a glittering run.

Additional Notes:Kate Then and Now

I mentioned that I have a soundtrack album from the 1968 Armstrong Circle Theatre television production (not the kind of thing I actually would have listened to in 1968--this is a bargain LP I acquired some time later.) It starred Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence--married at the time, so there undoubtedly were backstage stories relating to the onstage play, and the play within it.

The opening number is probably the most famous or at least repeated song in this musical--"Another Opening, Another Show." On the soundtrack it was handled as I recall it being done every time I heard it anywhere else-- in a very enthusiastic and upbeat style from the start: a big chorus number throughout. The North Coast Rep production handles it differently, though. It starts out in a slow, world weary fashion, sung by a few exhausted looking individuals scattered across the stage. As if to say, oh no, not another opening, another show...Gradually however they catch the show contagion and the song is soon upbeat and joyful.

As John Gielgud points out, every production is an experiment, and this handling of the song is clever, playing on the irony of the lyric, which befits a Cole Porter tune. As refreshing as this treatment might be, however, I don't think it works all that well dramatically. Things are going to start falling apart in the story very soon. It seems best to start at a high point, and let the complications set in gradually, scene by scene. Though the big chorus, upbeat treatment is musically tiresome at this point, dramatically on stage I believe it is still best.

Mindy & Darcy

However, the situation is different with the three numbers in the show that I single out in my review as the high points of the North Coast Rep production: "I Hate Men" (sung by Minderella Willens), "Always True to You in My Fashion" (sung by Darcy Daughtry) and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" (performed by Phil Zastrow and Rigel Schmitt.) In these three songs, their versions are superior to the soundtrack. I wouldn't attempt to compare voices of the women singers here and there (Carol Lawrence and Jessica Walter on the record), but just in terms of style the TV versions are comparatively bland. Willens and Daughtry not only have excellent voices, they act these songs vocally with great style and wit.

The same can be said of Zastrow and Schmitt, who sing practically every verse with some little difference or nuance--a Jimmy Durante emphasis, a sudden English accent, etc. And that's just what they all do vocally. Willens is always great at using her eyes and expressions to augment her singing. Daughtry turns her number into a strutting, swirling show-stopper, and Zastrow and Schmitt do a song-and-dance routine that you should commit to memory it's so classic.

This certainly speaks well of the current production, which (I remind you) is the only one you can see live right now. But it also helps to confirm an impression of the late 60s I had at the time--that the popular music of the previous era was typically being performed in a very bland and conventional way by then, as if by rote. (You can tune in to a TVland rerun of a late 60s Lawrence Welk to see and hear what I mean.) It was a kind of music at the end of its dominance; all the energy was in rock & roll and the folk, rock, blues, etc. combinations that were revolutionizing popular music at the time. In fact, music of earlier eras was already being re-energized through rock music, as in several now familiar tunes on the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is itself 40 years old this month.

The soundtrack album also reminds me, however, how much richer this music sounds when played by a full orchestra. That's what Cole Porter wrote it for, and the strings especially give it character as well as body. It's a real loss that so few musicals anywhere use full orchestras, and the small ensemble here at NCRT can only suggest the feeling of this Broadway musical as it was meant to be heard.