Kiss Me, Kate (Leeds Grand Theatre & London Coliseum)

[JJShaw]

my only knowledge of the show was the new broadway cast recording and watching the proshot old vic production from 2001 on youtube (correct me if i am wrong on date/theatre) so i was looking forward to seeing a production in person.

While I thought the performances were fine there just seemed like a lack of drive and energy from the production, like it had been put on sleeper mode, could have been to do with direction, or as previously stated just being on a stage that was too big for their set, or the distinct lack of brass that i was accustomed to from the versions prior. I wasnt a fan of how Too Darn Hot was staged and was a little disappointed with Tom, Dick, Harry (one of my faves, again there was just a lack of brass instruments to give it that old school JAZZ vibe!)

Sadly it then felt quite long (and at 2hr 50, it is!) it was lovely to have all the encores, transition music and such, i wish I had enjoyed it more. Surprisingly so, so so many people were leaving at the beginning of the bows, just seemed rather rude at the Droves of elderly people leaving (i was at the matinee!), and they say the young generation is rude!

[sf]

Jun 21, 2018 22:08:40 GMT tonyloco said:

Jun 21, 2018 15:32:31 GMT lonlad said:

Very surprised by the tenor of the reviews though perhaps I shouldn't be given how many indifferent productions of musical classics here get a free pass from the critics. But as someone who saw the unsurpassable Michael Blakemore revival of this show on Broadway and then at the VP in London, this one is a tepid also-ran -- three of the four principals are miscast (Zoe Rainey is a wonderful performer but not remotely plausible as Bianca -- though she'd make a good Katherine, I would imagine) and the production doesn't sit well on the Coli' stage -- it's built for much smaller spaces so most of the set is fringed in darkness (and also underlit). The orchestra was good so there is that, and we have Kelli O'Hara coming to Bway in this next spring, and THAT should be sensational.

Audience response last night, by the way, pretty wan -- felt as if they were willing themselves to like it without actually caring one way or the other.

Very interesting response, lonlad. Without actually saying it, you may well be subscribing to the view that opera companies should not do Broadway musicals, which is something I actually agree with because either the regular opera singers are unsuitable to play the roles in the show (which I felt to some extent with the two main leads here), or they import performers from the musical theatre, which rather defeats the purpose of an opera company doing the show in the first place, not to mention shortcomings in the actual staging.

But, sorry to say, I don't agree that the Michael Blakemore production was definitive because although the show was properly mounted with very talented musical theatre performers, everybody played their parts at breakneck speed as if they had a train to catch and I felt the show suffered as a result. My reaction at the time was that the director didn't actually trust the basic material and had to energise it in what seemed to me to be an unacceptable way, but if that approach worked for you then fine – you are not alone in being very happy with that particular production!

There are some rewrites in the Blakemore production as well (by John Guare, who should know better), and they are not improvements.

I liked Opera North's 'Carousel' very much; I missed this 'Kiss Me, Kate' when it played the Lowry a couple of years ago, but I'm seeing it next week. As far as I'm concerned, if nothing else, getting to hear that score performed live by that large an orchestra is worth the money.

[wickedgrin]

I'm not going to sit on the fence here - I didn't enjoy it and was very disappointed.

Too Darn Slow!

The running time was almost 3 hours and we did not get out until 10.25pm! I felt this was not due to the reprises which are in the show but the pace of the dialogue and the tempo of some of the numbers (Wunderbar, So in Love) were slow too.

On the positive side the orchestra were excellent and the singing too was glorious but on this showing I do feel that Opera companies should not do musicals - it is a different discipline.

It is in the wrong theatre - far too big for this. I was in the 4th row of the Dress Circle and the show seemed miles away and black legs brought the stage in by about a third. The set looked lost.

The production reminded me of the old D'Oyly Carte Opera where the shows were set in aspic and this had all the traits! The chorus just coming on and standing and singing while the "dancers" danced in front! The chorus managed to raise their arms at the same time which seemed a considerable achievement. Cloths were caught on other scenery, there was a mal functioning sliding panel, poor lighting (underlit) and an overuse of the follow spots.

Some very odd staging decisions - I Hate Men and Too Darn Hot - which failed completely to lift off being set on the stage with the cast just hot under the lights in their costumes rather than in the back alley of the theatre by the stage door cooling off in the night air, which is sexy, sweaty and jazzy.

Performance wise - it was well sung but only the actors playing Bill and Lois made an impact and delivered the best musical numbers of the evening - a show stopping "Always true to you Darling in my Fashion" from Lois and "Bianca" from Bill - great tap dancing! But the company were mercifully off stage for these.

The ending of the show sits very uncomfortably now with the wife kneeling to her husband in subjugation.

However, despite the swathes of empty seats in the Dress Circle (the pricing for this is ridiculous) the old ladies around me (when they shut up talking and unwrapping boiled sweets) LOVED it. No standing ovation, however, warm applause, and everyone just seemed happy to get out.... at last.

I think the best way to enjoy this production is to close your eyes and just listen to it.

[foxa]

Having booked this more than a year ago (and taken Theatremonkey's excellent advice, gone for £20 side dress circle seats - Row F on the aisle - terrific value) when the date finally arrived and I'd read some tepid responses (some good points above and agree with much of what wickedgrin writes, though not the conclusion), I was braced for disappointment, but with a few quibbles, we enjoyed it.

Zoe Rainey is a witty, funny Bianca and Alan Burkitt, as Billy/Lucentio delivered a 'Bianca' (with the best tap-dancing I've seen this side of Gregory Hines) that was a highlight. Petruchio is very well sung by Quirjn de Lang - his 'Where Is The Life That Late I Led' is terrific. Stephanie Corley wasn't quite right for Katherina and there was no chemistry between her and Petruchio, so that did kick a bit of a hole in some scenes. But the staging was endlessly inventive and fun - it didn't seem like it would work but the stage changes during 'Always True to You...' were so outlandish they justified the song's several reprises.

I had taken my family to see the Blakemore 'Kiss Me Kate' when my daughter was so little she had to sit on a bolster seat, so this was a bit of trip down memory lane for us.

My daughter calculated afterwards, that as there are 20 songs in the musical and we'd paid £20 for our tickets, a pound a song wasn't bad. The audience seemed to enjoy it, but there was no standing ovation and Bianca and Billy got more of a reaction than Katherine/Petruchio.

If you can get a deal on tickets, I'd recommend and would keep my eyes open. ;-)

[Boob]

I didn’t realise how good the Michael Blakemore production was until I saw the woeful Sir Trev revival at the Old Vic, which pretty much put me off the show. That, coupled with the fact I hated Jo Davies’ Carousel, means I’ll be giving this a wide berth.

[jamb0r]

Enjoyed this much more than I was expecting last night! I loved the dancing and there were some excellent performances. The set did look a little lost on that huge stage at times and some of it does drag on a bit, but definitely glad I went. I had one of the £20 seats towards the back of the dress circle at the side, but I ended up moving to the middle nearer the front and practically had a whole row to myself. If you can get one of those £20 tickets they are a bargain! I wouldn’t have known about them if it wasn’t for this board.

[showgirl]

I was at the Thursday matinee and was underwhelmed by this. It would sound arrogant to say that perhaps it seemed more special to regional audiences and that's not true anyway, as on the same day Michael Billington gave it a 4-star review. However, though it was perfectly pleasant it wasn't the outstanding experience I had been led to expect and was hoping for, and with hindsight I'd have preferred to spend the money - and the precious time - seeing something new or more deserving.

It was also far too slow; indeed, at the end of the first act I wasn't even sure whether it was worth staying but I did - partly because it was a bit late to hope to fit in a film before the evening play I'd booked. So in the end I had a reasonably good time but as with 42nd Street and An American In Paris, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. After not really "getting" those and hating The Rink, I really need to have my faith in musicals restored, but I don't know what it will take to do that.

[tonyloco]

I'm opening a can of worms here, but several posters have complained that this production is too slow, both the musical numbers and the dialogue scenes, whereas one of my complaints about the Michael Blakemore version was that it was too fast!

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I felt that with the present production, neither of the two main leads had the right kind of musical theatre charisma and there was rather a lack of chemistry between them so their (sometimes rather lengthy) off-stage dialogue scenes fell flat as a result, not to mention their Petruchio/Katherine "Shrew" scenes. I also think the dressing room scenes were not helped by being played on poorly lit big open sets – they needed small inner sets like Dorothy Brock's dressing room in 42nd Street to help focus attention.

As to the musical numbers being too slow, especially the romantic ones, I don't agree other than to say perhaps Mr Porter was overgenerous in providing rather too many numbers in a long show, except to say that the great Broadway shows from the "Oklahoma!" era are all pretty much three-hour jobs with long first acts and none of us that love them want to see anything cut or re-written!

Maybe I have to fall back on what I have said before, namely that in general opera companies should not do Broadway musicals!

[wickedgrin]

I agree with much of the above tonyloco although I did think the production and some of the numbers slow. Certainly shows of that era were/are 3 hours long - currently the R&H King & I at the Palladium.

But shows cannot be preserved in aspic. I witnessed a total re-imagining and impressively sung production of G&S Iolanthe with an all male cast in the same week as Kiss Me Kate. D'Oyly Carte Opera Company went to the wall trying to preserve these shows as they were originally staged.

So I think that revivals of musicals today have to recognise the changes - a shorter attention span for example and up their game. So I think the numbers in this show needed a little more pep, as did the dialogue.

I agree completely about the lack of chemistry between the leads, and when the supporting roles were better played (Bill and Lois) it unbalanced the whole show. Some of the staging too simply did not work as you say.

[sf]

Jun 23, 2018 22:28:47 GMT showgirl said:

It would sound arrogant to say that perhaps it seemed more special to regional audiences and that's not true anyway

So why mention it?

[showgirl]

Jun 24, 2018 13:50:04 GMT sf said:

Jun 23, 2018 22:28:47 GMT showgirl said:

It would sound arrogant to say that perhaps it seemed more special to regional audiences and that's not true anyway

So why say it?

 But I didn't:  if you read what I wrote you can see that I was struggling to comprehend the gulf between the reviews/my expectations, and my actual experience.  Hence I considered, but discounted ("but that's not true anyway"), the possibility that people in the south-east, who are spoilt for choice when it comes to theatre, are less easily impressed.  I still don't know what the answer is but I am clearly not the only one who didn't find this as good as s/he hoped.

[sf]

Jun 24, 2018 13:56:27 GMT showgirl said:

Jun 24, 2018 13:50:04 GMT sf said:

So why say it?

 But I didn't:  if you read what I wrote you can see that I was struggling to comprehend the gulf between the reviews/my expectations, and my actual experience.  Hence I considered, but discounted ("but that's not true anyway"), the possibility that people in the south-east, who are spoilt for choice when it comes to theatre, are less easily impressed.  I still don't know what the answer is but I am clearly not the only one who didn't find this as good as s/he hoped.

I read what you wrote. I understand what you meant. And your condescension is showing, and it's rather unpleasant. As I said, if your point wasn't to suggest that us unsophisticated hicks in the regions aren't as discerning as audiences in London, why mention it at all?

[RedRose]

Not selling well. No wonder concerning the prices without any famous names. The balcony was closed on Saturday afternoon and we were upgraded to stalls seats that are over 100 Pounds . It stretched a bit at the beginning, but then we thought it was very enjoyable (especially the beautiful dance scenes)and it was very funny as well. And guess what there where some people giving standing ovation for this - no, but a solid 3,5 stars from me.

[Deleted]

Jun 27, 2018 10:04:04 GMT @theatremonkey said:

Interested to see that you can now bring sealed bottles of water into the Coliseum.

But are you allowed to open them?

[sf]

Jun 27, 2018 11:53:12 GMT @ryan said:

Jun 27, 2018 10:04:04 GMT @theatremonkey said:

Interested to see that you can now bring sealed bottles of water into the Coliseum.

But are you allowed to open them?

Nobody stopped me this evening.

(Loved the show, too.)

[showgirl]

On the bag search/food/water point, the Coliseum is sending its usual warning email (which I recall from Bat Out Of Hell), so I went to the trouble of emptying my water bottle and concealing my apple and banana (which I wasn't going to consume in the theatre but were part of my normal food supply for a long day out, a normal situation they seem not to have allowed for), only to find that I wasn't asked to produce my bags for a search. So their approach seems inconsistent and as we all know, any "searches" are so cursory anyway that they wouldn't detect any genuinely suspicious or hazardous item.

[theatrefan77]

I enjoyed this last night. Nowhere near as good as the Blakemore production but the score sounded absolutely wonderful with a full orchestra imho.

The set and costumes are in general on the cheap and tacky side, but the singing was glorious. The two leads were good acting wise, although they didn't have enough chemistry. Zoë Rainey was very funny as Bianca. Alan Burkitt as Bill was for me the weakest link here, his acting and singing were adequate but his tap dancing routine was quite weak. I believe Ashley Day played the part before him. It would have been interesting to see him in the part as Day is imho a much better and slicker dancer.

Overall it was a fun night out. You can't really go wrong with Cole Porter!

[Dawnstar]

Jun 28, 2018 7:06:15 GMT theatrefan77 said:

Alan Burkitt as Bill was for me the weakest link here, his acting and singing were adequate but his tap dancing routine was quite weak. I believe Ashley Day played the part before him. It would have been interesting to see him in the part as Day is imho a much better and slicker dancer.

Yes, Ashley Day played Bill when the production was new in 2015. However the choreography for "Bianca" was different back then. It was more of a group number. It was changed to the solo tap dance when the production moved to WNO and Alan Burkitt took over the role. Therefore it's not possible to compare the two as dancers in that number. In terms of overall performance, my personal preference is for Alan Burkitt in the role but I freel admit I'm biased as I like him in other roles whereas I somehow cannot warm to Ashley Day.

I was supposed to be seeing the show again tonight but unfortunately I'm stuck at home with a heavy cold so I won't have the chance to see how it looks at the Coliseum.

[Someone in a tree]

Jun 28, 2018 7:06:15 GMT theatrefan77 said:

I enjoyed this last night. Nowhere near as good as the Blakemore production but the score sounded absolutely wonderful with a full orchestra imho.

The set and costumes are in general on the cheap and tacky side, but the singing was glorious. The two leads were good acting wise, although they didn't have enough chemistry. Zoë Rainey was very funny as Bianca. Alan Burkitt as Bill was for me the weakest link here, his acting and singing were adequate but his tap dancing routine was quite weak. I believe Ashley Day played the part before him. It would have been interesting to see him in the part as Day is imho a much better and slicker dancer.

Overall it was a fun night out. You can't really go wrong with Cole Porter!

The sets are made for touring and have to share the trucks and stage space with two operas.

I saw the show in Nottingham and recently in Leeds. The stages are much smaller and I thought fitted into the theatres really well.

I really like the sets of swirling walls and I thought the backdrops looked great, such vivid colours on the tapestries as if an old master was ‘refreshed’

[talkstageytome]

Funnily enough for me Alan Burkitt was the strongest link in the cast. Loved his singing and tap solo! I also really loved him in Top Hat on tour a few years ago.

[showoff]

I saw this last night and was a little worried looking at the reactions here.

I have to say I really enjoyed it, I went in blind, but really found it funny and engaging. The audience seemed to enjoy it, lots of laughs and a lot of the numbers well received, I particularly loved the tap solo.

I didn't see a big problem with the set, it seemed to fit the show. I know a lot of people on here love the set for 42nd street, but I had more issues with that and the backdrops.

I'd say it was about 4 stars for me.

[dippy]

I feel like I'm happy with my decision not to go and see this, it's something I've never seen live and do want to see one day. I have watched the version from the proms and timings didn't work out to see it at the Old Vic when it was on there. One day I will see it somewhere though but I'm not that desperate to see it.

[tmesis]

I've just come out of the final performance and on the whole I really enjoyed it. It wasn't as good as the Nunn Chichester performance or the John Wilson Prom production but some aspects I enjoyed more than these two efforts. First of all the negatives. Yes it doesn't sit well on the vast Coliseum stage, only occupying around two thirds of the space but that's to be expected coming from a smaller theatre and I liked the production and didn't find it cheap skate. 'Too Darn Hot' was badly staged and didn't have the sexiness of the Chichester version. This song is one of the best second act openers ever and this was poor. Another sure fire number that was second rate was 'Brush up Your Shakespeare.' It would have been much better played by two comic actors. The words weren't clear enough either.

But it was great to hear the show with the full orchestra and vocally I think it benefited from having two operatic leads. Songs like 'So in Love' and 'Kiss me Kate' have a big range with difficult intervals to negotiate and it was great to hear them sung with total security. I also thought they played the lighter moments well - in that sense they are both difficult roles to cast.

Lois and Bill were more 'musical comedy' and they both did their numbers really well. Fantastic dancing from Bill in 'Bianca.'

[tonyloco]

Jun 30, 2018 22:23:53 GMT tmesis said:

Lois and Bill were more 'musical comedy' and they both did their numbers really well. Fantastic dancing from Bill in 'Bianca.'

Thinking back on why I enjoyed the whole of 'Bianca' so much, it is a number I like a lot anyway, starting with its clever company introduction: "Package for Miss Lois Lane" and then developing into a solo for Bill which goes from singing into an elaborate dance routine. But although members have been referring to this as a tap dance, it seemed to me to be something more than just tap and Alan Burkitt seemed to have loads of elevation and 'balon' and was able to negotiate some wonderfully exhilarating moves 'en l'air' that had me catching my breath with pleasure.

In addition to seeking overall enjoyment of shows, it is to see individual performances as good as this that I am still hooked on musical theatre, even if they don't always materialise!

[Deleted]

Jun 30, 2018 22:23:53 GMT tmesis said:

Lois and Bill were more 'musical comedy' and they both did their numbers really well. Fantastic dancing from Bill in 'Bianca.'

I thought Bill was the star of the show. And Alan Burkitt was hot. Too darn hot if you will.