Maltz Jupiter Theatre to Present KISS ME, KATE

What do you get when you combine Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew with Cole Porter's music and lyrics? A musical that is just too darn hot!

Follow the backstage story of feuding couples, raging egos, gamblers and gangsters in the beloved Tony Award®-winning musical Kiss Me, Kate, onstage March 8 - 27 at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Celebrate the joys, madness and rewards of working in the theater - both onstage and off. Brush up your Shakespeare and don't miss this witty and delightful musical!

"This fun, timeless musical showcases unforgettable melodies and features many well-known songs, including the emotional ballad 'So In Love' and the sizzling dance number 'Too Darn Hot,'" said Andrew Kato, the Theatre's producing artistic director and chief executive. "I'm honored to welcome back director Peter Flynn, who previously directed the Maltz Jupiter Theatre's productions of Sleuth, Other Desert Cities and the Carbonell Award-winning Man of La Mancha. I also welcome a new artist to our team - Broadway's Marcos Santana - whose original choreographic signature has been a thrill to witness."

In addition to directing at regional theatres such as the Guthrie Theater and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Flynn's directorial credits include staging a number of star-studded concerts on Broadway, including On the Twentieth Century, starring Douglas Sills, Marin Mazzie and Joanne Worley; Chess, starring Josh Groban; and Funny Girl, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Andrea Martin. On Broadway, Santana served as associate choreographer for On Your Feet and Rocky (Tony Award® nomination) and assistant choreographer for Guys and Dolls, in addition to performing in On Your Feet, In the Heights and Guys and Dolls. He has also choreographed for the US tour of Rock of Ages and for numerous regional theatres across the nation.

Written by Samuel and Bella Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, the musical has risen to international fame and won numerous awards since opening on Broadway in 1948. Its original production (starring Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang) swept the Tony Awards® with five awards, and a 1999 Broadway revival won five Tonys® and received seven additional nominations (in addition to five Drama Desk Awards and five additional nominations). Its 2001 and 2012 London revivals received critical acclaim, as well.

The beloved musical's story involves the production of a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew and the hilarious on and off-stage conflicts between Fred Graham (the show's director, producer, and star) and his leading lady: his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi. A secondary romance concerns Lois Lane, the actress playing Bianca, and her gambler boyfriend, Bill, who runs into trouble with some gangsters.

"Kiss Me, Kate is a riotous, open-hearted valentine to a business that shouldn't make sense but somehow always creates magic," Flynn said. "The Spewacks' choice of The Taming of the Shrew as the play within a play couldn't be better suited: Shakespeare's acutely insightful rendering of marital tension, combined with the Spewacks wry theatrical savvy, produced a story that embraces all 'mad marriages': man and wife, onstage and offstage, even gangsters and the Bard. Add to that Cole Porter's shrewd words and ebullient music, and Kiss Me, Kate becomes an American masterpiece."

Featuring a cast of 24, a nine-piece orchestra and theatrical costumes, the musical will feature Broadway's Sally Wilfert as Lilli and Katharine (Assassins, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and King David) and Peter Reardon as Fred and Petruchio (Broadway: La Cage Aux Folles, Meet Me in St. Louis, Passion, Urinetown and White Christmas). Shayla Benoit (last seen at the Theatre in The Music Man and Hello, Dolly!) will portray the roles of Lois Lane and Bianca, and Antuan "Magic" Raimone (who has appeared in the Off-Broadway, Broadway and First National Touring Companies of the Tony® and Grammy Award-winning musical In the Heights) will portray Bill and Lucentio.

Kiss Me, Kate is sponsored by Janet and Phillip Dresden, Isanne and Sanford Fisher and Admirals Cove Cares; tickets start at $55. For tickets, call(561) 575-2223 or visit www.jupitertheatre.org. For more information on bringing your group to the Theatre, contact group concierge Shannon Murphy at (561) 972-6117.

The not-for-profit Maltz Jupiter Theatre has become one of Florida's preeminent professional theatres, committed to production and education through its collaborations with local and national artists. Currently the state's largest award-winning regional theatre, the Theatre draws nearly 100,000 people annually, serves a subscription base of more than 7,626 and has world-class classroom facilities in support of its Goldner Conservatory of Performing Arts, which serves hundreds of youth and adults. The Theatre is a member of the prestigious League of Resident Theatres and has earned numerous Carbonell Awards, South Florida's highest honor for artistic excellence, including the prestigious Bill Von Maurer Award for Theatrical Excellence. For more information about the Theatre's upcoming shows and Conservatory, visit www.jupitertheatre.org or call the box office at (561) 575-2223.

Photo by Alicia Donelan

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