CONNOR STREET

MY REVIEW

On Wednesday 27th February, I visited the Old Vic in London's West End to watch the production of 'Kiss Me Kate' starring Hannah Waddingham and tap dancer Adam Garcia. Trevor Nunn's revival of the classic musical (based on Shakespeare's) 'Taming of the shrew' was a delightful experience that opens the eyes to a different style of musical.

Following the relationship of Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham, the show took you through the emotions of two meant to be lovers who struggle to overcome their love for each other, at the same time as hating each others guts while putting. Trevor Nunn, a director known for his artistic developments within the Royal Shakespeare Company and directional input in musicals such as Cats and Les Miserables brings the show to life offering his artistic views and ways of transforming the show to the stage making the piece feel modern and new compared to where it began in 1948 (with the show taking place in the 1930's)

Choreographed by Stephen Mear, the ensemble stature of dance took centre stage within the musical, showcasing it's brilliant routines, led by the smooth and silky number " Too Darn Hot'' which opens the second act and is one of the stand out performance with a brilliant routine and vocal performance by Jason Pennycooke showcasing the sexual tension that lasts throughout the entire show. The choreography overall was strong, slick and smooth. Although the show didn't use many lifts within it, I was impressed with the way they managed to fit many different styles of dance (including Ballet and Jazz) into each piece. It created this spectacular showcase that really highlighted each number.

The strength within the entire piece was the book. With strong hints to Shakespeare's words, the dialogue was emotive, precise and with the musical introducing a plot of a show within the show the balance between the script was recognisable without being confused with the two different types of scenes taking place (i.e The show taking place on the stage compared with the backstage scenes of the show within the show). The book and direction of the show is clever, simple and with brilliant acting performances, the plot was understandable and strong. The style of the musical was interesting and different as it steered away from the tradition sense. Showing a show with a show is a clever way of staging and performing a show as it give's two different stories and interlinks them which Kiss Me Kate does well.

The stand out performance came from Lilli Vanessi (actress Hannah Waddingham). Portraying her as the strong, broody ex-wife of show producer and actor Fred Graham, she portrayed the right emotions such as happiness; angriness managing to interlink them together and show the progression of the character throughout the entire three hours. With the number "I hate men" Waddingham manages to create a fantastic comedic piece while the tone is quite moody with her character angry with Fred's action. Waddingham uses her voice in a way that delivers the massage plain and clear to the audience member. She stands out as the main attraction and is the most believable within the book, script and her voice is strong, confident and contempt.

The libretto and score are another two of the strongest aspects that Kiss Me Kate has to offer. With it's jazzy numbers and ballads, the songs and arrangement really capture the imagination of the piece transfixing the audience keeping the story going on. The opening number "Another Opening, Another Show" is a great example of what captivates the audience and leaves them wanting to know what happens. Gradually building up and up, the song brings together the full company and brings a warm friendly feel to the piece that welcomes the theatergoers and gets them excited. The only number that lets the show down is ''Brush Up Your Shakespeare". While the vocal performance is strong and comedic, it is let down by it's repetitiveness with the song sang over and over to try and gain as much attention and applause from the audience while showing off their talents.  I felt  this really wasn't needed and dragged.

One of the main weaknesses within the show was actor Adam Garcia. Seen as a heartthrob by many females, Garcia's cockiness and poor acting skills really came to the forefront. While Garcia is an excellent tap dancer, the way in which he delivered it came across as lazy, repetitive and like he had somewhere else to be. I felt that Garcia performed in a sense that tried to make it all about him and the amount of showing off that he did was a real sour note within the show and some of the facial expressions he pulled to the audience gave me the idea that he was quite up himself and within a professional production, I expected more. This felt like the director had searched for a bigger name performer to help sell tickets to the daughters, mum's and nan's who will ultimately be left disjointed .

The other disappointment within the acting department was Holly Dale Spencer who portrayed the role of Lois. Her over the top expressions and the way she expressed herself came across as desperate and annoying. Whenever she entered the stage, I'd immediately be distracted and put off by the way she portrayed her character. Her off-putting nature ruined the show for me and I felt that she really needed to tone down the way she performed.

Overall, the show was a very enjoyable afternoon at the theatre. While not a style of musical I had seen before, it was a good learning curve and introduction to these types of shows. While I wouldn't rush back to see the show again, If I was invited to see it I probably would. It was an interesting three hour's that is easy to sit through and reasonably enjoyable. I would recommend see it as it would appeal to many theatre lovers but also families and over 60's.