BWW Reviews: KISS ME, KATE at The Keeton Theatre is Musical Theatre At Its Best

With a score filled with so many Cole Porter tunes that you're fairly drunk with delight after hearing them, the expert direction and choreography of musical theatre aficionado Kate Adams-Johnson, and a cast of extraordinarily gifted performers breathing vigorous life into the time-honored text, the new production of Kiss Me, Kate at The Keeton Theatre should be atop your list of must-see theatrical events in this very busy month of February. Sam and Bella Spewack's witty, sparkling script is brought to life with flourish, proving this period piece-which was named winner of the very first Tony Award for best musical-to be, in fact, a timeless classic, a musical theatre masterpiece that deserves to be seen over and over again.

Adams-Johnson directs the show with respect for its place in musical theater history, yet it's not reverential. She doesn't approach it as a museum installation; rather, with The Keeton's Kiss Me, Kate she directs it as a vital part of contemporary musical theatre, while retaining its deserved place among the very best in the history of the business. Adams-Johnson's choreography enlivens the stage proceedings with stylish aplomb and a palpable energy that makes the script seem all the more current, while her vision for the musical ensures an evening of theater that is fun, exciting and altogether memorable. In fact, if you find yourself leaving the theatre without Porter's wonderful score reverberating through your heart, you should probably seek professional help.

The songs come at you, one after another, as examples of the very best show tunes ever written: "Another Op'nin', Another Show" (which set the bar high for opening numbers that followed in its tuneful wake), "Always True to You Darling, In My Fashion" (a wonderful example of Porter's incisive wit and joyous melodies), "Wunderbar" (the master's salute to operetta that remains as captivating today as it must have been in 1948), "So In Love" (as lovely a love song as you could ever hope to hear), "Too Darn Hot" (saucy and impudent, sexy and raucously fun), "From This Moment On" (a soaring ballad that continues flight long after it's been sung) and the wonderfully droll "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" (which represents the very best of theatrical in-jokes). It's like opening a treasure chest brimming over with musical theater classics, each one more amazing than the last, yet all of them exquisitely written and superbly musical. They represent Porter's talents at their zenith, just as Kiss Me, Kate provided him his comeback in 1948, some ten years after a horseback riding accident left him in near-constant pain.

Adam-Johnson's confident, sure-footed direction provides the structure for the evening-along with the music direction of Ginger Newman, whose five-member band play Porter's score skillfully-while the performances of her troupe of actors supply the necessary fireworks to lift the show beyond its stagebound confines.Structured as a play-within-a-play, Kiss Me, Kate follows the efforts of a theatrical company to mount a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, with all manner of backstage intrigue and romantic complications providing the fodder for the uproarious action that follows, replete with post-World War II politics, shady gangsters roaming the backstage area and a generous helping of hot-blooded chorus boys and girls. In short, everything needed to ensure musical theater success.

First and foremost among her cast is Janette Bruce, a new-to-Nashville actress, who delivers a performance of Lilli Vanessi/Katharine that is certain to delight and to entertain. It's as if, quite simply put, the Spewacks and Porter created the role of Lilli for Bruce, so seamlessly does she slip into the role, showing off her impressive vocal prowess with effortless ease and giving an acting performance that is staggeringly good. In fact-Marin Mazzie and Rachel York notwithstanding (and everyone knows how I feel about those two women)-Bruce's Lilli might be the best I've ever seen. That's how I felt immediately following the second night curtain and I woke up the following morning feeling the same way, so there must really be something very special about her beautifully crafted, brilliantly presented characterization. Her performance of "So In Love" is genuinely moving and passionate, her duet on "Wunderbar" (with co-star David Arnold as FrEd Graham) nicely over the top, and her duet on "From This Moment On" (with Terry McLemore as the General) is a beautifully sung comic masterpiece. Bruce's performance is fresh and frank, without being too "real," retaining the role's showy theatricality that is based in reality, however heightened it might be.

The production's other remarkable performance comes from Melissa Silengo, who takes on the role of tarty stage siren Lois Lane with a confidence heretofore hidden by her previous roles. Again, the role could easily have been written for Silengo, who delivers a performance punctuated by her exquisite beauty (she looks as if she stepped right off the pages of a Vogue number from 1948), her superb delivery of her witty dialogue and her infectious delight as she sings "Always True to You in My Fashion," "Why Can't You Behave" (in which she is nicely paired with Jonathan Perry's Bill) and "Tom, Dick or Harry" (with Perry, David Y. Williams and Darin Richardson-easily one of the night's most delightful numbers). As good as Silengo has previously proven herself to be onstage, as Lois she proves herself capable of commanding the stage, winning legions of new fans in the process.

Arnold provides the right amount of bluster to bring FrEd Graham to life, artfully blending masculine bravado with musical theater pizzazz and the onstage chemistry he shares with Bruce strengthens his performance. His "Where Is The Life That Late I Led?" is terrific, giving him a chance to shine as Petruchio.

Perry, who like Silengo looks just right for the time period, offers a charming reading of Bill/Lucentio that never once hits a false note, and in "Bianca," he leads the ensemble in one of those production numbers in which Porter's urbane sophistication fairly resonates. Relatively new to the Nashville stage, he is clearly an actor we'll be seeing a great deal of in the future.

The four principals are given able support from the talented ensemble assembled by Adams-Johnson, including the aforementioned McLemore, Williams and Richardson and a collection of Keeton Theatre favorites who are given their moments in the spotlight. Mallory Gleason, cast as Hattie, has never been more beautiful onstage and is perfectly at-home in the late 1940s; Macon Kimbrough scores with a sizzling version of "Too Darn Hot"; and Anthony P. Nappo threatens to steal every scene he's in as one of the stagestruck henchmen sent to rough up FrEd Graham over an unpaid gambling debt incurred by the impersonating Bill. Others in the large cast with impressive moments include Cat Arnold as stage manager Ralph (yep, you read that right-the glamorous Mrs. Arnold plays a role usually reserved for a man), Jessi Higgins as a chorus girl, Tony Shannon as the second gangster, Leonard Goodwin as Baptista, and Chad Ray and Andy Enkebol as chorus boys.

Brad Kamer's design provides an appropriate setting for the show-within-in-a-show plot (set in a Baltimore theater that's just too darn hot), while Kelly Landry's lighting design is impeccable. Laura Higgin's costumes are lovely evocations of period costumes (both mid-20^th century and Shakespearean) and Rudd Lance's sound design works well.

Though not perfect (despite all the praise I'm heaping upon it there were some minor onstage mishaps and miscues on the second night of the show's three-week run), Kiss Me Kate is sure to entertain and certain to delight and its cast is eager to please. And it represents the very best of American musical theater-don't miss it!

- Kiss Me, Kate. Music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Book by Sam and Bella Spewack. Directed and choreographed by Kate Adams-Johnson. Music direction by Ginger Newman. Presented by The Keeton Theatre, Donelson. For details, go to www.thelarrykeetontheatre.com or call (615) 883-8375.

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