Changes made to the 1999 KISS ME KATE revival

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 10:43am

Can anyone tell me what specific changes were made structurally to the book and score of Kiss Me Kate for the 1999 revival? Was the chronology altered, etc.?
Thanks!

[daredevil]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 10:58am

It was said that John Guare re-wrote the book. The plot, characters and events were mostly the same. Very little changes on that level. One change that I remember, the wealthy Texan who Lilli Vanessi is engaged to marry had his part expanded, he had a song,"from this moment on", that was not in the original, and told Fred Graham he was backing Dewey in the
1948 Presidential election: "I always pick a winner!" he said. Other than that, the show I saw, in early 2001, was pretty similar to the original vision.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 11:13am

Why they made ANY changes to a pretty perfect Musical is still a mystery to me. But the revival was very good except for some formulatic choreography that should have been more exciting.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 12:24pm

The script, from what I can remember was basically the same except they turned the Texas rancher that daredevil mentioned into... a marine? Am I remembering that correctly? You can find the London production of the revival on DVD, if you're familiar with the original and want to compare.

The main thing I disliked about the revival was the orchestrations. I found them way overworked and fussy, and the score was padded with a whole lot of overlong, unnecessary dance sequences. The original orchestrations (by the great Robert Russell Bennett) were perfect and compact.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 1:24pm

The entire filming of the 1999 London revival, which has the changes you're asking about, can be found on a certain website that begins with the letter Y and ends with the letter e.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 1:34pm

I know that, it's just that I'm not familiar with the original Kiss Me Kate, and so I can't really compare. Some other amateur productions on that website seem to follow the 1999 revival too, so that again isn't much help. Thanks for the above info though guys

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 2:18pm

"So In Love" was modified a bit. The original version is very soprano-opperetta style, whereas the revival gave it more of a 40's torch song arrangement. The lyrics, however were the same.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 2:46pm

Slightly off-topic, but this production still remains my favorite that I've seen on Broadway.

[Fan123]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 6:27pm

Judging from my somewhat hazy memory of the 1999 cast recording, the opening of the show was changed a bit. The original opened with overture, scene, then "Another Openin', Another Show". The revival opened with "Another Openin', Another Show" and had a rejigged overture (I think a mash-up of the original overture and entr'acte?) in the middle of it. Somebody more familiar with the revival can perhaps confirm this. I remember it sounded good to me, on the album at least.

[walt1896]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 9:05pm

"The role of Lilli's boyfriend Harrison Howell has been remodeled into a parody of Douglas MacArthur...."

Kiss Me Kate
The Martin Beck Theatre - 11/3/99
Reviewed by John Kenrick

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 11:24pm

Yeah, that's what the show needed.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 1:32am

Having known the original, the biggest change I noticed was the inclusion of From This Moment On, which had already been in the movie version. I guess the pundits assumed that it was from the original show, which, ironically was cut from the original Out of this World, a decision, as it turns out, was a mistake on
George Abbott's part. Common consensus was that the person who was supposed to sing it wasn't up to the vocal demands, such as they are, but it certainly could have been given to another cast member, which could have ensured that the show had produced a "standard" and led to the longevity of that show, which is one of Porter's treasures.