When I went to see the production of
‘Kiss Me Kate’ at the Old Vic Theatre in London on the 27th February
2013, I was more than a little dubious. Before the show began, I was
under the impression that the show would just not
be my cup of tea. However my opinion was changed by the time I left. I
found myself humming along and tapping my feet the majority of the way
through having thoroughly enjoyed it.
The show was directed by Trevor Nunn
whom has spent almost 20 years as the artistic director for the Royal
Shakespeare Company and went on to hold the same title in the National
Theatre. He has also had a lot of success with
directing other Musicals in both the West End and Broadway as well as
directing over 30 of William Shakespeare’s plays. The Musical Director
was Gareth Valentine whom although does not have a large amount of
accolades, he has worked in the West End on over
20 Musicals as well as conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra. The
choreographer, Stephen Mear, has a wide and expansive range of
experience within the Musical Theatre and has also won an Olivier award
for Best Choreography for his work on Mary Poppins in 2005
as well as winning various other awards. Looking at the achievements
alone that this trio have earned over the years, a good musical is
already forming.
The two leads in the show were Fred
Graham (Alex Bourne) and Lilli Vanessi (Hannah Wadingham) who carried
both their entire cast and the audience through the story. Both
performed amazingly but for me without a doubt Hannah stole
the show. Whether it be when talking with her fiancé in an almost
sickening way, or her amazingly bitter singing in ‘I Hate Men’,
Waddingham could do no wrong in my eyes
The format of the show was also very
cleverly laid out for the audience. The concept in itself was absolute
genius. How many other musicals can boast of a layering of shows?
Although confusing at first if not much is known on
the show, it quickly becomes clear when the characters are backstage as
their normal characters, and when they are on stage as their acting
characters. Other than the language used, the other giveaway that the
scene was changing was the brilliant scenery which
seemed to move seamlessly with the actors. Simple yet effective.
The musical in itself is very cleverly
written because of the actors playing a character, whom are playing
another character themselves. It also means that the majority of the
songs are placed well enough that they do not seem
abnormal within a real life situation which although is a common
convention of a Musical, does often leave me thinking ‘Was that song
really necessary?’
On the flipside however, I feel that
some of the jokes fell a bit flat on some of the younger audience
members whether due to its content or the phrasing of it. One other
thing that particularly bothers me with any musical is
the thirst people have for a big name in a show. Adam Garcia is the
example for this production and personally I feel that there was no need
for him to be there as I’m sure any other performer would’ve been able
to perform his role equally as well, if not better.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed watching
Kiss Me Kate and although the show has now closed, if it were to open
again, I would recommend it to anyone!
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