KISS ME, KATE (2019 Roundabout Revival) - Previews

[jacobsnchz14]

Kiss Me, Kate begins previews on Thursday, Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day) at Studio 54, and opens on Thursday, March 14. The limited run through Sunday, June 2 (as of 2/11) features a cast including Kelli O'Hara, Will Chase, and Corbin Bleu.

Anyone attending the first few previews?

[IdinaBellFoster]

I hate that it's (always) in B&W but I LOVE the playbill. Nice to see they didn't just go with a logo.

[Wick3]

I just realized the run ends June 2nd, a week before the Tony Awards. Do you guys think the production will extend? Perhaps through 4th of July?

[LesWickedly]

Like most Roundabout productions, I assume they’ll extend. The casting notice said max run through June 30.

[DiscoCrows]

I hope to god they extend. I'll be there on June 8th-12th, so I'd just barely be missing it.

[LuPita2]

They will extend if ticket sales are strong, which I am assuming they will be.  Great show, incredible cast.

[blaxx]

Wonder if it will hold up to the Stokes Mitchell - Mazzie revival. That one was perfect.

[CATSNYrevival]

I’m cautiously optimistic. I love Kiss Me, Kate but depending on the changes and rewrites by Amanda Green I’m not sure I’ll be as enthused as I was with the last revival. I don’t want a PC Kiss Me, Kate. I want a Kiss Me, Kate that addresses the issues presented in the text and starts a dialogue rather than tip toeing around them trying not to offend anyone.

[ilysespieces]

blaxx said: "Wonder if it will hold up to the Stokes Mitchell - Mazzie revival. That one was perfect."



That revival was my first Broadway show experience, it was a school trip and a friend who was also on the trip and I have tickets for March. We're excited to revisit a show we saw almost 20 years ago, not so excited for the terrible leg room in the rear mezz of Studio 54.

Also, loving that Playbill, though I do always wish for color.

[NYadgal]

I have tickets for Friday evening and am so eager to see it.

I have high hopes!

[ethan231h]

Will also be there Friday night, very excited

[jacobsnchz14]

http://www.playbill.com/article/reworking-broadways-kiss-me-kate-for-2019-audiences?fbclid=IwAR3d1gPbBZoX6e_omYRh6T8n29DdU1c-fPpzWWavUjVCcTDymj7fLQxnL8o

[KissMe]

, Kate

[Elfuhbuh]

I’m honestly not sure I’m a fan of changing the script. The My Fair Lady revival did a good job of sticking to the lines as written while creatively working with them to give a fresh and relevant ending, but the Carousel revival made the mistake of cutting out entire lines in an attempt to make the show more PC, and the result was that the production closed just months after opening. Hopefully the “updates” in Kiss Me, Kate are more in line with what was done with MFL.

[SomethingPeculiar]

"Amanda Green...will contribute additional material to the book. Green will not be writing new music nor changing the structure of the show, according to a press representative, but her contributions are meant to add a more modern sensibility to the musical."

I get the feeling that the changes are going to be minimal and, hopefully, for the better. But we'll have a better idea in about 49 hours.

[South Fl Marc]

Hopefully the changes will be better than "On the Twentieth Century". Her lyrics were laughably bad. Considering her other "accomplishments", would she ever get hired if she wasn't Adolph Green's daughter?

[OlBlueEyes]

Green is quoted as saying, “With these tweaks,” she says, “a nine-year-old girl seeing Kiss Me, Kate can be empowered by it.”

I'm fairly old and out of it, but what can an empowered nine-year-old girl do that one non-empowered can't do? When my sister was nine, I was six and she used to hit me and pull my hair. Not hard. Was my sister empowered? She grew up into one of the sweetest people on the planet.

Kelli O'Hara, among her other gifts, is extremely intelligent and I don't think that she'll let anything get out of hand. Cole Porter led such a wide life full of experiences, yet in the 40s after his accident he found himself to be rather alone and in constant pain and with Broadway shows that did not produce the same great pop classics anymore. Overcoming so much sadness to write one last show that surpassed all his others in many ways is just a credit to the man. 

If you can't perform the man's show without censoring it, then don't do it.

But I really don't think there will be any major problems. All the people here are sensible. We're not dealing with the Religious Right.

 

[theaterlyfe19]

I’m going in a few weeks and I’m so excited!!!

[OlBlueEyes]

To correct myself, Cole Porter did not write the book to Kiss Me, Kate, only the book and lyrics, so any changes to the book do not reflect on him.

Trivia: The 1999 revival ran for over 900 performances and the song "From this Moment On" was taken from a 1951 Porter show.

From O'Hara's website: Why Her Turn in Kiss Me Kate Will Be Good for Her Soul

https://www.kelliohara.com/single-post/2018/11/15/Tony-Winner-Kelli-OHara-on-Why-Her-Broadway-Turn-in-Kiss-Me-Kate-Will-Be-Good-for-Her-Soul

[h6p8gv]

BUmp how is the show so far? Who are the understudies

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Full understudy list

Most notably, Preston Truman Boyd covers Fred, Marissa McGowan covers Lilli, Will Burton covers Bill, and Christine Cornish Smith covers Lois. 

[DottieD'Luscia]

I wonder what happened to Phillip Attmore. He was featured in the Too Darn Hot rehearsal clip, and now he's no longer in the show.

[\_(•_•)_/]

Any reports from tonight? Did Whizzer attend?

[WhizzerMarvin]

I was there tonight. Things definitely felt like a first preview (which is fine, as it was indeed a first preview!), but right now it’s still finding its footing.

Will Chase sounds better than he ever has in his career. Some truly great singing and he seemed to loosen up as the evening went on. By “Where is the Life that Late I Led” he really was embracing his inner ham and had some fun.

Kelli, one of my favorites ever, sounds glorious of course, but she can really go 100x further over the top with Lilli.

These two are crazy drama queens. Be cartoony, scenery-chewing, over-emoting hams and then push it one step more. The singing is there- now they just have to let all inhibitions fly out the window and go nuts.

“Too Darn Hot” is a the big showstopper, along with “Tom, Dick or Harry.” The choreography is fun. Things really didn’t kick into gear until The Taming of the Shrew started.

The gangsters need work. They weren’t clicking.

I’ll see this again because it will definitely improve once everyone finds their footing and the pacing picks up.

[RippedMan]

You know I love design, is it as glorious and interesting as She Loves Me?