Kiss Me Kate - Barbican / Cinema Release

[ladidah]

Has anyone heard Adrian sing yet?

[Sotongal]

May 31, 2024 8:26:40 GMT ladidah said:

Has anyone heard Adrian sing yet?

He has got his own band and so has sung before. Haven’t heard him sing anything from Kiss Me Kate yet, but this is him singing on The Late Late Show on RTE One a few years ago.

[ladidah]

Thank you, nothing against him at all, I just adore the score and I'm wary of his 'So in Love' being what I would hope for!

[cartoonman]

The Radio Times for 1-7 June has an offer of 25% off tickets. It says visit KissMeKateMusical.com and use the promo code RADIOTIMES when prompted. The tickets are not cheap but 25% off helps. The Barbican does good rates for group booking so I hope my U3A group goes.

[archibaldi]

is anybody going tonight?

[theatrefan77]

I'll be there tomorrow

[mrbluesky]

This was a mixed bag for me.

Stephanie J Block sings and acts Lili brilliantly, and her version of So in Love was worth the price of admission alone. She brings a real sense of fire to Lili and Kate, while also imbuing her with a good amount of vulnerability- the moment where she realises Fred really is in love with her was really well played.

Charlie Stemp is Charlie Stemp, and that is no bad thing - he dances a treat, is genuinely funny and sings like a dream. His Bill is an idealistic dreamer, totally in love with his Bianca. He gets a few added dance moments in Too Darn Hot, and with Jack Butterworth, dances up a cracking start to act two.

Georgina Onuorah’s Lois is the perfect match for Stemp’s Bill - she’s flirty, fun and is an absolute powerhouse vocalist. Her Why Can’t You Behave was tender, while her Always True to You is a proper showstopper, that showed that not only can she sing like mad, she’s really, really funny too, and her work with the three suitors (Carl Au and Jordan Crouch) in Tom, Dick and Harry was great!

Nigel Lindsay and Hammed Animashaun as the two gangsters are a great double act, bouncing off each other and other members of the cast with ease. Their Brush Up Your Shakespeare was a highlight of act two, and I couldn’t help but grin through it.

And then there’s Adrian Dunbar as Fred. His acting is good, and I actually think he’d make a good Petruchio, if his scenes as the character in this are anything to go by. But the singing. He’s not leading man material for a musical, and up against a cast with voices like this, it’s glaringly clear he’s not up to it, sadly. I really wanted to like him, but I struggled to move past the voice - hopefully by opening night he’ll have gotten better.

Overall, it’s a fun night out with some stellar performances and it’s a joy to have SJB here giving it her all.

[mrbarnaby]

Doesn’t sound hugely promising, as predicted.

[mrbluesky]

Jun 4, 2024 22:12:28 GMT mrbarnaby said:

Doesn’t sound hugely promising, as predicted.

Sadly not, Mr B!

I think what disappointed me most was that it should, in theory, be great - SJB is great, Georgina is great, Charlie is great, the score is great, and yet, it’s missing a solid leading man, and better direction.

[mrbarnaby]

Jun 4, 2024 22:27:21 GMT mrbluesky said:

Jun 4, 2024 22:12:28 GMT mrbarnaby said:

Doesn’t sound hugely promising, as predicted.

Sadly not, Mr B!

I think what disappointed me most was that it should, in theory, be great - SJB is great, Georgina is great, Charlie is great, the score is great, and yet, it’s missing a solid leading man, and better direction.

Also why are they even staging this dated old show? In this moment as well. It’s so misogynistic.

[blamerobots]

I remember a thread about reinterpreting older works on the board; a production like this could've been great for a retake on this material.

[showtoones]

Who are SJB and Adrian's u/s?

[Being Alive]

I'll write something properly in the morning, but this is a few tweaks from 5 stars for me.

Phenomenal design, a KNOCK OUT cast (I liked Adrian but he was nervous as heck and needs a few previews to be totally comfortable with it) - SJB is absolutely superb , Charlie great, Georgina great (and I've never thought that of her in anything I've seen her in), Hammed and Nigel a SUPERB brush up your shakespeare.

This is great.
It's classy as HELL, it's probably the best designed show I've seen in ages.

I loved it 😂

[westendwhistledown]

Agreed. Bloody fantastic. Absolutely loved it! So classy. Get your tickets now!!

[Being Alive]

Oh, and don't worry about Too Darn Hot after the One Show.

It's a showstopper.

[ThereWillBeSun]

Jun 4, 2024 22:59:15 GMT Being Alive said:

Oh, and don't worry about Too Darn Hot after the One Show.

It's a showstopper.

Phew! Relieved 😮‍💨

[theatrefan62]

How is Georginas dancing? It's never something I've associated with her

[ladidah]

Oooh, glad to hear such good reviews!

[mrnutz]

Glad to hear some positives here - I'm in on Saturday and was worried!

[Being Alive]

Jun 5, 2024 7:03:16 GMT theatrefan62 said:

How is Georginas dancing? It's never something I've associated with her

She doesn't dance all that much, but what she does do in Tom Dick and Harry she's really good at.

Always True To You In My Fashion really showed what a knock-out voice she's got.

[musicalslive]

Thanks for the reviews. Visiting next week. Can't wait. Do we know if SJB is playing all perfomances? Is she on at wednesday, after opening night?

[theatre22]

Is the 2 hrs 40mons run time on the website about right?

[adamkinsey]

[/quote]
Also why are they even staging this dated old show? In this moment as well. It’s so misogynistic. [/quote]


This goes double for the forthcoming Carousel concert although presumably they'll be making lots of dialogue cuts.

[oxfordsimon]

Why should it be changed?

It is a period musical centred around and featuring an Elizabethan play.

It,to a certain extent. reflects the attitudes, thinking and beliefs of those eras

Modern audiences can perfectly well see that it isn't a celebration or endorsement of those attitudes.

Carousel should be an uncomfortable watch for modern audiences. The idea that it is ok to suffer domestic violence as long as you truly love the person who is hitting you should not be acceptable. But to try to smooth it out is to take something away from the piece.

Watching Othello doesn't mean audiences are upholding racism, Richard III doesn't mean you support child murder, Phantom of the Opera isn't a celebration of obsessive love and Stockholm Syndrome.

Theatre must reflect the good and the bad in human nature and in our past.

[theatrefan62]

Jun 5, 2024 9:52:54 GMT oxfordsimon said:

Why should it be changed?

It is a period musical centred around and featuring an Elizabethan play.

It,to a certain extent. reflects the attitudes, thinking and beliefs of those eras

Modern audiences can perfectly well see that it isn't a celebration or endorsement of those attitudes.

Carousel should be an uncomfortable watch for modern audiences. The idea that it is ok to suffer domestic violence as long as you truly love the person who is hitting you should not be acceptable. But to try to smooth it out is to take something away from the piece.

Watching Othello doesn't mean audiences are upholding racism, Richard III doesn't mean you support child murder, Phantom of the Opera isn't a celebration of obsessive love and Stockholm Syndrome.

Theatre must reflect the good and the bad in human nature and in our past.

Completely agree, sometimes it's like people miss the point of these shows. Many domestic abuse victims do see the violence as a show of love. Thats well documented. So the show reflects that correctly. It's a very simplistic view to say 'it shouldn't happen in real life so we shouldn't show it'. The harsh reality is it does happen, and sadly likely always will. It's the directors job to portray the complexities.

It's also so worrying that some audiences don't seem to be able to separate the context of a show and it's setting, and their own behaviours and attitudes.