Over the past summer, London’s Barbican Theatre staged a three-month revival of the classic Cole Porter musical, Kiss Me, Kate. Now the rest of the world can see the West End production, courtesy of this filmed version of the revival premiering in movie theaters on November 17. Starring Tony-winning actress Stephanie J. Block (The Cher Show, Into the Woods) and multi-award-winning Adrian Dunbar (Line of Duty, Ridley), the film fully recreates the live-theater experience, including a timed 15-minute intermission.
Buy Kiss Me, Kate (1953) Blu-rayThe show follows the backstage and onstage antics of a Broadway-bound theater troupe performing a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, offering a show within a show. In his musical theater debut, Dunbar plays Fred, the producer/director/star of Shrew, who also happens to be the ex-husband of his co-star, Lilli (Block). There’s also a romance between younger cast members Bianca (Georgina Onuorah) and her gambling-addict boyfriend, Bill (Charlie Stemp). When Bill gets in debt with some shady gangsters, he fraudulently drags Fred into his mess, pointing the comically gruff gangsters in Fred’s direction. Quick-thinking Fred brings on the gangsters as producers with the stipulation that they force his ex to continue performing in spite of her desire to leave the show, giving Fred the chance to win back her heart.
The show is a classic Broadway staple, notable as the first-ever Tony-winning musical and the basis of the 1953 film starring Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel. It has also aged well, unlike many other faded titans of its original era. Not much update was needed by current director Bartlett Sher, and he wisely maintains the status quo with the assistance of choreographer Anthony Van Laast. They’re not out to reinvent the wheel here, they simply put on a grand revival of a classic to entertain London’s summer crowds, and now the rest of us. Speaking of wheels, the principal staging innovation is the use of a massive turntable under the sets, quickly whisking players from the front of Shrew’s stage to its backstage dressing rooms in full view of the audience.
As a West End production, the cast is comprised of mostly British players, making for varying levels of believable American accents in the Broadway-set show. Stemp seems to struggle the most as Bill, his posh accent unable to reconcile our Yankee butchering of the King’s English. There’s a noticeably long rounding and stretching out of words by most of the cast, the attempt at relaxed American speech not quite ringing true to my ears, but keeping in mind that this is a British production of an American musical adapting a British play, accents are all a bit jumbled up by design.
Stephanie J. Block contributes a masterful performance as Lilli/Kate, the new reference mark for the role. Her rich, powerful vocals soar with impeccable control, and her comedic timing and expressions steal every scene she’s in. She earns the position of the absolute star of the show, even if the hometown crowd was likely far more familiar with and interested in seeing Dunbar based on his Brit-TV-star status and curiosity about his foray into theater.
As a theater neophyte, Dunbar doesn’t embarrass himself, but also wouldn’t have been cast in this prominent role without his built-in TV fanbase. Frankly, based on my principal familiarity with him from Line of Duty, I didn’t even know he could crack a smile, let alone sing and dance. He doesn’t have to do much heavy lifting from a musical theater perspective, with only basic choreography and serviceably on-tune, if expressionless, vocals, but he’s clearly game for the challenge and having fun. As for the supporting cast, they’re mostly mediocre, rising only slightly above the baseline (Stemp) or below (Onuorah), but they’re just background color for the riveting fireworks between the leads.
The show is significantly aged-up, with the early 50s Block opposite mid-60s Dunbar, stretching believability about their suitability as leads in a new Shrew musical. Credulity is further stretched when another romantic interest emerges for Lilli in the second act, a general played by 70-something Doctor Who veteran, Peter Davison. While it’s fun to see British TV legends on the stage, one wonders if the boys wouldn’t be more comfortable at the local senior center.
The biggest production number features the company players performing Porter’s classic tune, “Too Darn Hot”, as the showcase opening of Act Two. Here the song gets extended far beyond its normal length, adding a bit of sizzle with some showgirls in Chicago-esque lingerie but running out of steam before its prolonged end. Likewise, the show-within-a-show concept eventually grows tiresome, just as it does in the 1953 movie, as the real action is happening backstage with the hilariously bickering exes. Each Shakespeare scene keeps us from the simmering romantic tension percolating behind the scenes, although that tension inevitably boils over onto the Shrew stage.
The film brilliantly captures the live experience from the audience perspective, with a nice mix of mid and close-range shots from the floor. There’s no roving onstage camera or aerial rig, just an expertly edited digital capture of the show as it happened. Lighting and sound are excellent, with all vocals crisp and clear, aside from the humorously mumble-mouthed gangsters. It’s everything you would expect from a modern production of the musical, kissed to life by Block’s towering performance.
Kiss Me, Kate opens in theaters on November 17. For more information and theaters, visit KissMeKateCinema.com.
