Kiss Me Kate

A warm welcome is always guaranteed by the front of house at Winchester Operatic and Musicals' shows. Tonight was no exception. There was a real anticipatory atmosphere in the foyer as we took our seats. We were in for a treat. This was going to be a very immersive experience, and right from the start too as I was approached by Suzanne Hall and Kate Hickson as the two gangsters who took absolute delight in abusing their NODA Rep. Much to the delight of my partner. 

The lights dimmed and the eleven piece band struck up. What a fantastic swing soundtrack they provided, first rate by Martin Patterson as MD and the rest of the band. They provided an integral part of the show's overall feel. The stage went right through to the rear wall with make up desks going from left to right and well costumed actors appeared on the stage for Another Opening Another Show. It became very clear that this Kiss Me Kate was not going to follow the rules. It was a sort of "show that goes wrong" meets slapstick, meets immersiveness, oh and lets not forget the story!

The principle line up of Steven Lilly and Lucy Francis as Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi worked very well together and bounced off each other with real energy. They were equally backed up by Olivia Conroy as Lois lane whose ability to forget lines and constantly ask for prompts was so well done with such a straight face your'd be forgiven for thinking that she had actually had a brain freeze. I have already mentioned the gangsters but their comic timing on stage together was just perfect.

However the real stars of the show were the chorus. The slapstick elements, the dance routines (especially Too Darn Hot) the onstage arguements, the collapsing table and subsequent meal served on a table cloth over the protagonists knees, The Morcambe and Wise esque water in the face, the ever crying actress, the missuse of props. The list is endless, every scene was a proper old fashioned belly laugh, something I most certainly wasn't expecting from what is a good but sometimes dour show. David Tatnall as the Director has done an amazing job here with, what is obviously a very willing cast, to extract every ounce of comedy. Equally the choreography that Chrissy Hotton put together was clever, creative and very entertaining. All the cast knew where they were supposed to be, why and when. The energy was huge and all looked as if they were having a blast. This came over into the auditorium and their enthusiasm was infectious. despite all the energy you would be forgiven for thinking that the diction might suffer. Not a bit of it. All the words whether sung or spoken were clear and audible and any dropped words or lines were not detected. 

The lighting was effective and the sound provided by Tony Lawther was good. Equally, and with all this going on, Angie Barkes as stage manager led a slick backstage operation, and the set changes, such as they were, were done quickly and efficiantly, you never noticed them (although a lot of the scene changes were done by the cast).

This was a first class joyous and entertaining evening, one that i certainly wasn't expecting from this show. A brilliant evening, Thank you WOMS 11/10!

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