Kiss Me Kate

Kiss Me Kate combines Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew with Cole Porter’s music and lyrics. Directed by Alison Crow this complicated show proved very demanding due to the lack of space on the stage and the many set and scene changes. A combination of the overture and the cast assembling to rehearse the forthcoming show within a show, seemed a trifle long. Christine White (Lilli Vanessi /Kate) arrived and soon stamped her presence on the stage her performance both singing and acting were of the highest standard and a joy to watch. She was ably supported by the acting ability of leading man Graeme Cooper (Fred Graham /Petruchio) his strong baritone voice managing to overcome the orchestra. Their fight scenes were very realistic and I am sure there were lots of bruises at the end of the show. Kerri Veck (Lois/Bianco) and Stuart Laidlaw (Bill/Lucentio) worked well together as did the comical gangsters Mark Bluemel and Andrew Mackley.
They were well supported by the rest of the principals and the cast. Musical Director Steven Moore’s Band was at times a trifle loud for the ensemble. Emily and Vanessa Golborn’s choreography suffered from the lack of space on the stage . Robert Hudd and his team worked hard with the set changes. The stage settings provided by Peter Crowe and assistant Naledi Nickerson were superb. The lighting and sound by Andrew Stickland complemented the scenes.

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