Photo Flash: Jeannie Shubitz Leads KISS ME, KATE at Westchester Broadway Theatre

Westchester Broadway Theatre presents Kiss Me Kate with Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter and Book by Samuel and Bella Spewack. Directed and Choreographed by James Brennan with Musical Direction by Leo P Carusone the show runs thru November 3, 2013, starring Jeannie Shubitz as KATE /LILLI. BroadwayWorld has a first look at Shubitz onstage below!

This Cole Porter hit is one of the masterpieces of musical theatre. It offers a host of glorious songs with some dazzling rhymes and a witty script about a former husband-and-wife acting team at war with each other while trying to stage a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The show scintillates with classic Porter numbers, "Wunderbar", "Always True To You In My Fashion", "Why Can't You Behave", "Too Darned Hot", "I Hate Men" and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare".

Kiss Me, Kate opened on Broadway on December 28, 1948 and enjoyed a healthy run of 1,070 performances. It won five Tony wards, including the first ever Tony Award offered for Best Musical in 1949. The original cast included Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk, and Harold Lang. There have been two revivals of "Kiss Me, Kate," most recently in 1999 starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie.

Our cast stars: William Michals as Fred/Petruchio, Jeannie Shubitz as Kate/Lilli, Missy Dowse as Lois Lane/ Bianca, Brian Ogilve as Bill/Lucentio, Darren Kelly as Harrison Howell, James Van Treuren as Harry/Baptista, Michael Farina and Michael Kubala as the Gangsters.

The Multi-talented ensemble includes; Lauren Cluett, Chris Fishburne, Kyle Erickson Hewitt, Anna Claire Hudgins, Darrell T. Joe, Krista Kurtzberg, Ryan Patrick Lingle, Roger Preston Smith, Bronwyn Tarboton, EricWeaver and Karen Webb.

The show is directed and Choreographed by James Brennan, Musical Direction by Leo P. Carusone, Lisa Tiso is the Associate Producer. Set design by John Farrell, Costumes by Derek Lockwood, Hair/wig design by Gerard Kelly, Sound Design by Jon Hatton, Andrew Gmoser is the Lighting Designer, Properties by Grumpy's Props. Victor Lukas is Production Stage Manager.

Jeannie Shubitz (Kate/Lilli) is entirely delighted to join the cast of Kiss me, Kate! at WBT. Jeannie most recently appeared as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific with the Phoenix Symphony (Ted Sperling, MD) and in The Sound of Music at Paper Mill Playhouse. NYC credits: Mary/Elizabeth in Creation: A Ghost Story; MISIA (Playwrights Horizons). Favorite regional credits: Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady), Christine (Phantom), Margaret Johnson (The Light in the Piazza), Magnolia (Show Boat), Marian (The Music Man), Sarah Brown (Guys & Dolls), Philia (Funny Thing...Forum), Evelyn Nesbit (Ragtime), Fiona (Brigadoon), Josephine (HMS Pinafore), Miss Dorothy Brown (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Mabel (Pirates of Penzance).

William Michals (Fred/Petruchio) Broadway debut as The Beast in Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and later returned to play Gaston in the same production. He starred in the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC at Lincoln Center, as Javert in LES MISERABLES, Billy Flynn in CHICAGO, Don Quixote in MAN OF LA MANCHA, Harold Hill in THE MUSIC MAN, and the title role in PHANTOM, as Chauvelin in the recent national tour of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL and Captain von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC. He appears with the leading orchestras, including the San Francisco, San Diego, Utah, and Hartford Symphonies, The New York Pops, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops. His credits extend into the operatic world, in New York, Boston, and in concert at the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals. Favorite roles include Figaro and the Count in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème, Danilo in Lehár's The Merry Widow, and the dark Hunding in Wagner's Die Walküre.

James Brennan, (Director). has directed and choreographed the Broadway revivals of Cole Porter's Jubilee and Jerome Kern's Sally. Off-Broadway he directed the premieres of Fanny Hill at the York Theatre and Richard Corey at the Lion Theatre as well as The New York Philharmonic's acclaimed production of My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center. Regionally, he has created productions of Crazy For You (PBS telecast), Kiss Me Kate, She Loves and Oklahoma! for Paper Mill Playhouse; Into The Woods, and The Sound of Music for Pittsburgh CLO; andCall Me Madam for Goodspeed Musicals. As an actor, Jim performed on Broadway in Good News, Rodgers and Hart, So Long 174th Street, I Love My Wife, Little Me, 42nd Street, Singin' In The Rain, Me And My Girl, and Crazy For You. He toured America in No, No, Nanette, Good News, Me And My Girl, Camelot, and Crazy For You.

Ticket Prices Dinner & Show range between $54.00 and $80.00 PLUS TAX depending on the performances chosen. Beverage Service & Gratuities are not included in the ticket price. Discounts are available for children, students, and senior citizens at selected performances. Also check the website for on-going Special Offers! More news at: www.BroadwayTheatre.com.

Photo Credit: John Vecchiolla

William Michals (as Petruchio) and Jeannie Shubitz (as Kate)

William Michals (as Fred/Petruchio) and Jeannie Shubitz (as Lilli/Kate)

Jeannie Shubitz as Kate