Photo Flash: First Look at Elizabeth Stanley, Paul Anthony Stewart & More in Barrington Stage Company's KISS ME KATE

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, presents the company's 20th Anniversary Season opener - Kiss Me, Kate, which opened earlier this and runs through July 12 on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage (30 Union Street). Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the cast in action!

Directed by Joe Calarco, with choreography by Lorin Latarro, the production stars Elizabeth Stanley (BSC's On the Town; Broadway: Company) as Lili Vanessi/Kate, Paul AnthonyStewart (The People in the Picture, Fiddler on the Roof, TVs Guiding Light) as Fred Graham/Petruchio, Mara Davi (A Chorus Line) as Lois Lane/Bianca, Tyler Hanes (A Chorus Line) as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, Nyla Watson (Hattie), Matthew Bauman (Paul), Carlos Lopez (Gangster #1),Michael Dean Morgan (Gangster #2), Roger DeWitt, Fred Inkley, KC Fredericks, Calvin Cooper, Joel Robertson,Brittany Bohn,Jennifer Evans,Adrienne Howard, Jakob Karr, Amanda La Motte, Robin Lounsbury, Kyle Pressley, and BSC's Musical Theatre Apprentices Matthew Gregory,Gabriel Kadian, Jordana McMahon, Brian Sandstrom, andRoss Yoder.

Kiss Me, Kate features music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Sam and Bella Spewack. Taking its inspiration from Shakespeare, Kiss Me, Katerecounts the backstage and onstage antics of two feuding couples during a touring musical production of The Taming of the Shrew. Sparkling with 18 classic Cole Porter songs, Kiss Me, Kate includes "Another Op'nin', Another Show," "So in Love," "Always True to You in My Fashion," "Too Darn Hot," and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare".

Cole Porter's most successful musical, the original production of Kiss Me, Kate opened on Broadway at the NewCentury Theatre on December 30, 1948 and ran for 1,077 performances. Starring Alfred Drake and Patricia Morrison, Kiss Me, Kate was the first musical to win the Tony Award for Best Musical. M-M-MGM's 1953 movie version, filmed in 3-D, starred Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and Ann Miller. The production received its first Broadway revival in 1999 - starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie - winning five Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival.

Kiss Me, Kate has a Berkshires connection to composer/lyricist Cole Porter, who in 1940 purchased "Buxton Hill" with his wife Linda in Williamstown.

Performances of Kiss Me, Kate are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Friday matinees at 2pm (excluding June 11 and June 13), Sunday at 5pm. Added Saturday matinees July 5 and July 12 at 2pm. Please note Friday, July 4 there is no 8pm evening performance; there will be a 2pm matinee. Press Opening: Sunday, June 15 at 5pm. Tickets start at $20. Low priced previews June 11-13 are $15/$20. Youth ages 6-18, tickets $15/$20 all performances (subject to availability). For more information, call the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888 (or toll-free at 855-TIX-2BSC) or visit www.barringtonstageco.org.

Photos by Kevin Sprague

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