Anytime you leave the theater singing one or more of the songs, you know the play was good, the singing was good, the orchestra was good and you had a good time. Who knew Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me, Kate” included so many familiar hit tunes — “So In Love,” “Wunderbar,” and “Too Darn Hot.” But as soon as the curtain rises on this Woodstock Musical Theatre production directed by Tish Lyon, the magic begins. The well-crafted scenery, the 1940s clothing and the palpable onstage energy immediately transport the audience back in time.
An audience member perusing the program before the start of the show remarked, “I can’t wait to see how they fit all these people on this stage.” The spare but well-constructed two-level set designed by Sue Lewis affords plenty of space and allows for plenty of movement and visual interest. For example, the bits of business in the opening scene, backstage at Baltimore’s Ford Theatre — stagehands seeking stars’ autographs, the sharing of a flask of booze, and the hanging up of costumes — are all performed as the 28-member cast sing the toe-tapping “Another Op’nin, Another Show.”
“Kiss Me, Kate,” a play-within-a-play comedy, involves actor/producer Fred Graham’s efforts to launch a production of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” and to lure his temperamental ex-wife Lilli Vanessi out of retirement by giving her the role of Katherine Minola. Of course, he has also hired nubile nightclub chanteuse Lois Lane, his current romantic interest, to play Katherine’s sister Bianca. Lois’ boyfriend Bill Calhoun who portrays one of her onstage suitors Lucentio and is a compulsive gambler complicates the storyline by signing “Fred Graham” on his IOU. And the delivery of a bouquet of flowers from Graham to Lilli Vanessi instead of the intended recipient Lois Lane destroys the separation between stage and backstage.
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