Samantha Free, Stephanie Shrader, Mairead Atkinson, and Emily Nadler Photo

From: Photo Flash: KISS ME KATE at the Broadhollow Theatre Company

Passions run high both onstage and offstage in Cole Porter's classic jazz musical 'Kiss Me Kate,' now playing at Broadhollow Theatre Company's Bayway Arts Center, soon moving to the Broadhollow Theatre in Elmont. It's the late 1940s in Baltimore, and leading lady of the stage and silver screen Lilli Vanessi battles it out with her ex-husband, actor, director, and producer Fred Graham, in a tryout production of William Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew.' Sparks fly between the former flames, especially when young up-and-comers Lois Lane and Bill Calhoun get the entire company entangled with a $10,000 IOU debt pursued by two madcap mobsters. With romance, comedy, sophistication, and behind-the-scenes hijinks, 'Kiss Me Kate' is an enduring crowd-pleaser, combining the irreverent humor of two brilliant writers: William Shakespeare and Cole Porter.