TV: Go Inside Rehearsals For Virginia Musical Theatre's KISS ME KATE

Virginia Musical Theatre will close out its 27th season with the Tony-winning 1999 revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, April 27-29. The musical production blends the talents of William Shakespeare with the music of Porter to create one of the most chaotic, disruptive and enduring romances of all time on the stage. Kiss Me, Kate follows the embattled exes Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, and their onstage/offstage antics throughout a musical version of "The Taming of the Shrew," where Graham is Petruchio and Vanessi is Katharine. Add an ambitious showgirl, a Broadway hoofer who gambles often, and singing gangsters, and it's the perfect recipe for disaster. Featuring such classic songs as "Too Darn Hot," "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," "I Hate Men," "Another Op'nin', Another Show," and "Always True to You (In My Fashion)," Kiss Me, Kate is a real crowd-pleaser.

The production is also a musical theatre reunion of sorts as it brings together, for the first time, stars Heather Parcells (Lilli Vanessi/Katharine Minola) and Michael Hunsaker (Fred Graham/Petruchio), who studied and performed together at Florida State University, where each of their respective Broadway and professional theatre careers started more than 20 years ago.

Kiss Me, Kate is directed by VMT Artistic Director Chip Gallagher, with musical direction by Allan Decipulo, and choreography by Jeff Warner. Cole Porter's classic score comes to life thanks to a 18-piece live orchestra. The production also includes: Jesse Michels, Mattie Tucker Joyner, Michael Joyner, James Mitchell, Scott Rollins, Darian Archie, Kai B. White, Clifford Hoffman, Jonathan Quigley, Giovanni Da Silva, Robert Shirley and Andrew Schwalm, Ryan P. Cyr, Sam Quinn, Michael Russell, Tyler Sodoma, Sylvia Hutson, Jacqueline Burroughs, Elizabeth Hughes, Katelyn Cassidy, Caitlin Holst, Nicole Marie Lorah, Alexandra Pouloutides, Brittany Marcell Monachino, and Sarah Juliet Shaw.

Performance Schedule for Kiss Me, Kate:

Friday, April 27 at 8 p.m.

Saturday, April 28 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sunday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m.

Visit the Sandler Center Box Office or call 757-340-5446 to purchase tickets. Virginia Musical Theatre offers discounts for seniors, military, and students (under 25), as well as employees of Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation. Call 757-340-5446 for details.

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