The Brandywiners Celebrate 80th Consecutive Production with Kiss Me, Kate

To mark its 80th year, The Brandywiners Ltd. will debut its production of the renowned musical Kiss Me, Kate at Longwood Gardens Open Air Theatre on July 28, 29, 30 and August 4,5,6. Kiss Me, Kate is one of Cole Porter's Masterpieces. He wrote the musical in 1949, twelve years after an equestrian accident left him paralyzed, almost ending his career.

Inspired by Rodger and Hammerstein's Oklahoma, which had just revolutionized American theater, he penned Kiss Me, Kate, a complex yet hilarious play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and the play itself is inhabited by the actors playing in the musical version.

Kiss Me, Kate was introduced on Broadway the same year he wrote it, where it ran for over 1,000 performances and 400 more in London. A revival was introduced on Broadway in 1999 and again in London in 2001. Over the years, the show has been nominated for 17 Tonys and has won seven including best Musical, Best Composer and Best Actor. With a Hollywood movie version, four
teleVision Productions and numerous productions by high schools and community theaters, Kiss Me Kate continues to earn its reputation for being one of the most popular shows ever written.

About the Brandywiners
The Brandywiners was founded during the Depression in 1932 by then recent
college graduates Frances Tatnall and Chick Laird. Reminiscent of today, the
economy was down and prospects for college-age people were far from
promising, so they decided to bring some cheer to their friends and family by
putting on a show.

Pierre S. du Pont, former president of DuPont, then owner of Longwood
Gardens, and patron of the theater happily gave Tatnall and Laird, du Pont's
nephew, permission to use the Open Air Theatre. The hastily arranged
production of Pirates of Penzance was the company's ?rst production,
launching a tradition which continues to this day, with all but four of the shows
during World War II being held at Longwood.

Tickets can be purchased on line at www.brandywiners.org or by calling 800
338-6965. Tickets include free all-day admission to Longwood Gardens.

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