| CAST |
| Fred Graham/"Petruchio" Harry Trevor/"Baptista" Lois Lane/"Bianca" Ralph, the stage manager Lilli Vanessi/"Katherine" Bill Calhoun/"Lucentio" First Thug Second Thug Chas/"Gremio" Willard/"Hortensio" Hattie/First Chorine Angela/Second Chorine Gen. Harrison Howell |
May 27 to June 6, 2004
| One of the greatest Tony Award-winning favorites of all time featuring classic Cole Porter songs. |
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JOE CASCONE
GORDON ELKIN
ANDREA STRAYER
CAMERON McKINNON
JOANNE KENNEDY
GRAHAM KEITH
DAVID HAINES
CHRISTOPHER McKINNON
PETER LOUCAS
GARY PRUDENCE
SUSAN SANDERS
HEATHER GOODALL
LLOYD DEAN
GORDON ELKIN
ANDREA STRAYER
CAMERON McKINNON
JOANNE KENNEDY
GRAHAM KEITH
DAVID HAINES
CHRISTOPHER McKINNON
PETER LOUCAS
GARY PRUDENCE
SUSAN SANDERS
HEATHER GOODALL
LLOYD DEAN
| KISS ME KATE Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter Book by Sam & Bella Spewack |
| Pictured: Joe Cascone as Fred Graham and Joanne Kennedy as Lilli Vanessi |
Theatre review by Mark Andrew Lawrence
This is shaping up to be a Cole Porter summer. A new movie biography starring Kevin Kline as the composer will
open later this month, and the Stratford festival is presenting a summer season Anything Goes. Add to this The
Civic Light Opera Company’s production of Porter’s best musical, Kiss Me Kate that opened last Thursday at
Fairview Library Theatre.
Director Joe Cascone understands the need for pacing in reviving classic musical comedies. He has skilfully
trimmed every extraneous dance, lyric or bit of dialogue from the script, invisibly tightening the musical down to a
crisp two hours and fifteen minutes. Working with his design team, he has created scenes that cinematically
dissolve from one to the next. The backstage drop, painted by Blain Berdan immediately conjures up the bare bricks
and dressing room doors that one might see in one of the older Broadway theatres. This opens to reveal a unit
street scene set which becomes the centerpiece for the on-stage musical version of The Taming Of The Shrew
while at the same time implying the rather desperate financial situation of this troupe of strolling players.
Heading this troupe are Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi (played by Mr. Cascone and Joanne Kennedy.) Formerly
married, this couple delight in sniping at each other. The show’s juvenile, has signed a $10,000.00 I.O.U. using
Fred's name. Enter two gangsters seeking payment of the debt, and the fun begins.
As the feuding co-stars, Cascone and Kennedy shine when their anger erupts in the middle of a performance and it
turns into slapstick comedy but done with enough restraint to make it believable. As Petruchio in The Taming Of
The Shrew, Cascone sings “Where is the Life that Late I Led” using his huge voice to fill the theatre but without
letting a single word escape his lips in less than understandable form. Both music and lyrics are also showcased
when Kennedy takes the stage to sing Kate’s hilarious soliloquy “I Hate Men!”
The show is very nearly stolen from underneath them by David Haines and Christopher McKinnon as the two
tough-talking gangsters. Inspired by their look at the Classic Bard himself, they stop the show with their second act
number “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” milking every laugh from Porter’s sly lyrics. The audience clearly loved
these two cut-ups from their first entrance.
Cameron McKinnon plays the hapless stage manager desperately trying to keep the performance together as
backstage squabbles threaten to tear it apart. Though still a relatively young actor, he understands the character
perfectly and even dresses and moves in ways totally different from the members of the troupe.
In keeping with the production’s intimacy, the troupe itself is a rather small, tight ensemble – as would befit a cost-
cutting producer. On balance, the four-piece band was tight and the mandolin used in the Shrew scenes was
extremely effective and the sound was generally good. The lighting design by Marc Siversky clearly delineates the
on-stage and backstage scenes. Overall, though, it is a glorious crowd-pleasing production of Cole Porter’s
masterpiece, Kiss Me Kate.
This is shaping up to be a Cole Porter summer. A new movie biography starring Kevin Kline as the composer will
open later this month, and the Stratford festival is presenting a summer season Anything Goes. Add to this The
Civic Light Opera Company’s production of Porter’s best musical, Kiss Me Kate that opened last Thursday at
Fairview Library Theatre.
Director Joe Cascone understands the need for pacing in reviving classic musical comedies. He has skilfully
trimmed every extraneous dance, lyric or bit of dialogue from the script, invisibly tightening the musical down to a
crisp two hours and fifteen minutes. Working with his design team, he has created scenes that cinematically
dissolve from one to the next. The backstage drop, painted by Blain Berdan immediately conjures up the bare bricks
and dressing room doors that one might see in one of the older Broadway theatres. This opens to reveal a unit
street scene set which becomes the centerpiece for the on-stage musical version of The Taming Of The Shrew
while at the same time implying the rather desperate financial situation of this troupe of strolling players.
Heading this troupe are Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi (played by Mr. Cascone and Joanne Kennedy.) Formerly
married, this couple delight in sniping at each other. The show’s juvenile, has signed a $10,000.00 I.O.U. using
Fred's name. Enter two gangsters seeking payment of the debt, and the fun begins.
As the feuding co-stars, Cascone and Kennedy shine when their anger erupts in the middle of a performance and it
turns into slapstick comedy but done with enough restraint to make it believable. As Petruchio in The Taming Of
The Shrew, Cascone sings “Where is the Life that Late I Led” using his huge voice to fill the theatre but without
letting a single word escape his lips in less than understandable form. Both music and lyrics are also showcased
when Kennedy takes the stage to sing Kate’s hilarious soliloquy “I Hate Men!”
The show is very nearly stolen from underneath them by David Haines and Christopher McKinnon as the two
tough-talking gangsters. Inspired by their look at the Classic Bard himself, they stop the show with their second act
number “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” milking every laugh from Porter’s sly lyrics. The audience clearly loved
these two cut-ups from their first entrance.
Cameron McKinnon plays the hapless stage manager desperately trying to keep the performance together as
backstage squabbles threaten to tear it apart. Though still a relatively young actor, he understands the character
perfectly and even dresses and moves in ways totally different from the members of the troupe.
In keeping with the production’s intimacy, the troupe itself is a rather small, tight ensemble – as would befit a cost-
cutting producer. On balance, the four-piece band was tight and the mandolin used in the Shrew scenes was
extremely effective and the sound was generally good. The lighting design by Marc Siversky clearly delineates the
on-stage and backstage scenes. Overall, though, it is a glorious crowd-pleasing production of Cole Porter’s
masterpiece, Kiss Me Kate.