If MGM's classic 1953 film version of Cole Porter's splendid musical is the only one you've ever seen, then this fully staged Broadway edition may have you wondering about a few things.
Well, you know how Hollywood can't keep from tampering with Broadway scripts - even Cole Porter's near-perfect one, created in collaboration with Bella and Samuel Spewack (not to mention William Shakespeare).Instead of Ann Miller in 3-D, wafting scarves and gloves toward the camera while tap-dancing her way through "Too Darn Hot," the stage version has Paul (Alan LaFleur) and the Grand Theatre ensemble portraying a bunch of hot and tired actors in the alley behind Baltimore's Ford Theatre on a sweltering summer night. It works, but I miss Ann Miller.
Meanwhile, there are some performances in this splashy and colorful stage production that are pretty "darn hot" as well.
The real sizzler is Melinda Cole Welch as Lilli Vanessi/Kate. When she storms around the stage with the velocity of a well-aimed tornado, spewing out "I Hate Men," I seriously wondered what Mr. Welch's life is like.
Even Mark Gollaher, who exuded passion galore as Rochester in "Jane Eyre: the Musical," has to push to keep up to Melinda's level. Gollaher seems to fare better as Petruchio than he does as Broadway producer/star Fred Graham.
For those who've never seen "Kiss Me, Kate," perhaps a brief explanation is in order. This is a play-within-a-play. Fred Graham is mounting a newly revised production of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," with his ex-wife, Lilli Vanessi, cast as the violently shrewish Kate and himself as Petruchio, a gent from Verona, seeking to woo and wed her.
So several members of the Grand Theatre's cast have two roles - as actors in the Baltimore company as well as the roles they're playing in "Shrew."
The central plot is the ongoing fireworks between Fred and Lilli - his stubborn ego vs. her volcanic temper. They may still be "So in Love," but Lilli is about to marry an extremely boring Southern politician (Harrison Howell, played by Leslie Warwood).
There are also a couple of subplots.
One involves starlet Lois Lane and her somewhat rocky affair with gambler Bill Calhoon (Bianca and Lucentio in the Shakespearean excerpts). These roles are nicely played by Victora Matlock and Brook Robertson.
And, as if Lilli isn't already more than a handful, Graham's life is further complicated by the fact that Calhoon has signed a $10,000 I.O.U. gambling debt . . . by forging Graham's signature. Which means that Fred is hounded throughout the show by a couple of New York thugs (Paul Heslington and Lee C. Fobert) who provide some broad comedy relief. They also get to sing one of the show's best novelty numbers, "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."
A couple of other standouts in the production are Jan Williams Smith as Hattie, Lilli's dresser, and Gordon Johnson as Harry/Baptista (the latter the exasperated father of Padua's infamous Kate).
Both director Tyson Stephenson and choreographer Marilyn Mae Montgomery have a feel for the early 1950s, when musicals focused on dancing and talent instead of high-tech mechanics.
The show's 17-piece pit orchestra, directed by Jennifer O'Haley, is also in top form.
Linda Phillips' costumes and Clif A. and J. Chad Davis' scenery - both of which constantly shift from backstage Baltimore to Shakespearean Italy - are consistently appropriate.
Not that the show is problem-free. The sound was a tad uneven during the big ensemble numbers and the chorus seemed a little ragged.
In a show that's packed with a large number of showstoppers, the low-key finale was something of a letdown. Maybe Porter himself just couldn't come up with anything to top "Another Op'nin,' Another Show."