Kiss Me, Kate (Critical Edition)
- Full Length Musical, Adaptations (Shakespeare), Comedy, 1940s / WWII, 16th Century / Elizabethan
- 7M, 3F
- ISBN: TW-10999
The battle of the sexes takes center stage as former spouses feud onstage and off during a musical presentation of The Taming of the Shrew. Sophisticated, romantic and delightfully hilarious, Kiss Me, Kate boasts a sparkling Cole Porter score and a brilliant book from Sam and Bella Spewack.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: There are multiple versions of this title. Before you proceed, please double-check to ensure that you are applying for the version you want. If you’re not sure which version best suits your needs, you may purchase a perusal for each available version.
Description
- Full Length Musical
- Adaptations (Shakespeare), Comedy
- 120 minutes
- Time Period: 1940s / WWII, 16th Century / Elizabethan
- Target Audience: Teen (Age 14 - 18), Adult, Appropriate for all audiences
- Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
- Orchestra Size: Large
- Performance Group:
- High School/Secondary, College Theatre / Student, Community Theatre, Professional Theatre
- Accolades:
- Winner! Five Tony Awards including Best Musical (1949)
Winner! Five Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical (2000)
Winner! Six Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Revival of a Musical (2000)
Winner! Drama League Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical (2019)
The Critical Edition includes an orchestral score, piano/vocal score, and orchestra parts, all newly engraved to the highest standards. In addition to the complete show (the original Broadway script from 1948), this edition provides alternate keys and dance routines in an appendix and contains a wealth of explanatory notes and other documentation, which are an invaluable new resource for scholars and theatre professionals.
REVIEWS:
"Utterly, deliriously fun!"
Davi Cote, Observer
"The crowning achievement of Cole Porter’s long and celebrated career on Broadway, Kiss Me, Kate is a valentine to stage folk, a love letter in song linking Shakespeare and showbiz."
Charles Isherwood, Variety
"You have only to listen to Porter’s score — a swoon-worthy progression of deftly shifting rhythms and sophisticated rhymes and musical motifs — to understand the show’s timeless charm."
Peter Marks, The Washington Post
"It’s a pleasure to roar at suffering that is big and fake and somebody else’s. Kiss Me, Kate is cleverly constructed to provide that pleasure squared... Porter’s score remains an astonishing encyclopedia of musical comedy style."
Jesse Green, The New York Times
"I hardly need to extol the smutty, nutty, indelible Porter score, with heaven-sent numbers such as ‘Too Darn Hot,’ ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’ and that deathless show-folk anthem, ‘Another Op’nin’, Another Show."
Davi Cote, Observer
"Cole Porter's knockout score [features] such gems as ‘Another Op'nin,' Another Show,’ ‘So In Love,’ and that great second act opener, ‘Too Darn Hot,’ which sets the place on fire!"
Roma Torre, NY1
"Cole Porter's sybarite's delight of a musical... broad, brazen, often shameless and finally irresistible... Kiss Me, Kate asserts that there is still a place for sophisticated, grown-up fun in the New York theater."
Ben Brantley, The New York Times
Kiss Me, Kate opened on Broadway on December 30, 1948 at the New Century Theatre, starring Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang. The show transferred to the Shubert Theatre and ran for a total of 1,077 performances. A London production opened on March 8, 1951 and ran for 400 performances at the Coliseum Theatre. The original cast album issued in 1948 by Columbia Records was the very first Broadway cast recording to be issued on LP. And in 1949, Kiss Me, Kate won the very first Tony Award for Best Musical. In 1999, a revised version of the show was revived on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre, starring Marin Mazzie and Brian Stokes Mitchell. The production was extremely well received, and played for 881 performances. The 1999 revival at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London played for about 300 performances, starring Marin Mazzie and Brent Barrett. In 2018, the Roundabout Theatre Company presented a newly revised version of Kiss Me, Kate starring Kelli O'Hara and Will Chase. The critically acclaimed revival ran through June 30, 2019.
Characters
- Casting: 7M, 3F
- Casting Attributes: Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle), Strong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle), Expandable casting
- Chorus Size: Large
HARRY TREVOR
LOIS LANE
RALPH - stage manager
LILLI VANESSI
HATTIE
STAGE DOORMAN
PAUL
BILL CALHOUN
FIRST MAN
SECOND MAN
HARRISON HOWELL
SPECIALTY DANCERS
BIANCA - Lois Lane
BAPTISTA - Harry Trevor
GREMIO - First Suitor
HORTENSIO - Second Suitor
LUCENTIO - Bill Calhoun
KATHERINE - Lilli Vanessi
PETRUCHIO - Fred Graham
HABERDASHER
DANCING ENSEMBLE
Available Material
| Name | Price |
|---|---|
|
Perusal Material
Shipped immediately. This is optional.
Order Now
1 x Libretto/Vocal Book |
$24.00 |
|
Rehearsal Material
Shipped a minimum of 3 months before the last performance. This must be hired as a condition of the License to produce this show.
20 x Libretto/Vocal Books |
$550.00 +$135.00/pm |
|
Orchestral Material
Shipped a minimum of 1 month before the last performance. This is optional.
2 x Violin AC |
$350.00 +$135.00/pm |
