It's the ending for me with Kiss Me Kate that makes me go ehh esp when Lilli was pretty clear she hated her ex and then all of a sudden I love you! I saw the revival with Kelli O'Hara, Will Chase, and Corbin Bleu and thought the majority was fun (esp the Gangsters) but that damn ending.
Ive seen kiss Me Kate a few times (Im an SJB Stan) and I agree with a lot of your points. I think the problems with the show does come down to its book and source material. The show within a show idea does come from Shrew itself... as does a lot of the misogyny. Shrew is probably the Shakespeare that has aged the worse and productions since have tried to fix it, including Shakespeare's successor John Fletcher writing its sequel where Petruchio is the one who gets tamed (The Woman's Prize/The Tamer Tamed). I think the production has tried to fix as much as they can without giving the show a complete rewrite but the show still feels too dated
I really want this musical to work because I love the music- especially the 1999 recording with Brian Stokes Mitchell who sets a HIGH bar for the role of Fred- but I think it’d need a big book rewrite to get there
Its a shame you didn't gel with this. I agree with the ending and poor book. .but really appreciate the fantastic performances and was a grand revival that I could enjoy. Thought it was fun and enjoyable for a summer show which great actors.
It's the ending for me with Kiss Me Kate that makes me go ehh esp when Lilli was pretty clear she hated her ex and then all of a sudden I love you! I saw the revival with Kelli O'Hara, Will Chase, and Corbin Bleu and thought the majority was fun (esp the Gangsters) but that damn ending.
Ive seen kiss Me Kate a few times (Im an SJB Stan) and I agree with a lot of your points. I think the problems with the show does come down to its book and source material. The show within a show idea does come from Shrew itself... as does a lot of the misogyny. Shrew is probably the Shakespeare that has aged the worse and productions since have tried to fix it, including Shakespeare's successor John Fletcher writing its sequel where Petruchio is the one who gets tamed (The Woman's Prize/The Tamer Tamed). I think the production has tried to fix as much as they can without giving the show a complete rewrite but the show still feels too dated
I really want this musical to work because I love the music- especially the 1999 recording with Brian Stokes Mitchell who sets a HIGH bar for the role of Fred- but I think it’d need a big book rewrite to get there
Its a shame you didn't gel with this. I agree with the ending and poor book. .but really appreciate the fantastic performances and was a grand revival that I could enjoy. Thought it was fun and enjoyable for a summer show which great actors.
I wish I had enjoyed it more too! It was one I was hoping to like especially because of my love for SJB.