Kiss Me Kate

It’s always good to see a show which is a firm favourite with many people even if it is one which is not performed very often and Kiss Me Kate is a show which I always enjoy even though it is more years than I care to remember since I saw it.

With some great songs such as Too Darn Hot, Another Op’nin, Another Show, Wunderbar and So In Love, this has to be a favourite with many people and I can understand why when it is performed by such talented people as the members of UK Foundation for Dance & Sandside Players, they were superb.

In the leading roles of Fred Graham or Petruchio as he is known in the play in the play was Damon Hotchin and Rebecca Kelly-Evans was equally at home playing Lilli Vanessi or Katharine. These two talented actors were made for each other and when their voices combined in the duets it was excellent. It is not, however, just their singing which brings this show to life, their acting skills were also in abundance during this show. I loved their singing of Wunderbar as did the rest of the audience and when Rebecca sang the number I Hate Men you could feel the venom in her voice as she acted this out.

There were also some outstanding performances from Georgia Samuels as Lois Lane and Liam Galashan as Bill Calhoun, this was another fine pairing and both were able to bounce off each other in both their singing and acting. Another great duo was that of Hattie played by Kathryn Irwin and Paul played by Charlie Simon-Shaw, their singing of both the first and second act’s opening numbers was excellent. Another Op’nin’, Another Show and Too Darn Hot were both great numbers to not only listen to but also to watch too.

Lois or Bianca also had a great number with the suitors, Tom, Dick or Harry with Lucentio, Liam Galashan, Gremio and Hortensio, the latter two being played to the full by Nathan Mundey and Andrew Clay respectively, again this was a great number to see and hear.

Anyone who knows this show will certainly know the parts known as the First and Second Men who have the hit number, Brush Up Your Shakespeare. These parts were in the more than capable hands of Tim Tubbs and Jonathan Jeeves whose rendition of this number almost brought the house down with both their singing and perhaps also their clothing! It certainly was one of the highlights of the evening.

The entire cast were more than ably supported by David Irwin as Harrison Howell, Roger Crowther as Pops, Tina Carne as Ruth plus an excellent chorus of singers and dancers.

Many congratulations to everyone involved and I’m sure Tim Tubbs, Director, Bill Scott, MD and Katrina Flynn, Choreographer must be extremely proud of the final result.

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