Michele Ragusa and Mike McGowan Set for KISS ME, KATE Concert with Buffalo Philharmonic Tonight

Mike McGowan, (PRISCILLA, GREASE, RAGTIME) currently on tour in BOOK OF MORMON will reunite with his KISS ME KATE cohort, Broadway veteran Michele Ragusa (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, URINETOWN, RAGTIME) to star in a staged concert version of the classic musical with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Kraemer and directed by James Brennan.

Both McGowan and Ragusa received critical acclaim for their starring (and sparring) roles in KISS ME KATE at The Paper Mill Playhouse. This concert will also mark a return for Ragusa to star with the BPO following her last turn as Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL.

Other actors who have been named as attached to the project are David Bondrow, Jenn Stafford, Patrick O'Herron and Patrick Riviere (OPA!, FAMILY DINNER), who has been cast to play one of the Brush Up Your Shakespeare Gangsters. Riviere is currently living in Los Angeles and coming off a critically acclaimed production of THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, which he also directed.

KISS ME KATE will play one night only, tonight, April 27, 2013 at 8pm at Kleinhans Music Hall. For more information visit the BPO website at www.bpo.org.