Kiss Me Kate, Welsh National Opera
/Kiss Me Kate
Presented in English
Touring
Cole Porter's popular Kiss Me Kate, a musical based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew was part of the Welsh National Opera's autumn Shakespeare400 Season. WNO Artistic Director David Pountney said ‘It's a marvellous opportunity for us to bring together enormously varied works which Shakespeare’s works have inspired.’
Welsh National Opera / Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Bella and Samuel Spewack
Critical Edition by David Charles Abell and Seann Alderking
Creative Team
Conductors: James Holmes (except for the dates listed below) and Gareth Jones (for October 14-29, November 12 matinee, December 7-10 matinees)
Director: Jo Davies
Set & Costume Designer: Colin Richmond
Lighting Designer: Ben Cracknell
Choreographer: Will Tuckett
Sound Designer: Sebastian Frost
Associate Choreographer: David Hulston
Staff Director: Sarah Crisp
Associate Director: Ed Goggin
Assistant to Choreographers: Alex Newton
Cast
Fred Graham/Petruchio: Quirijn de Lang
Lilli Vanessi/Katherine: Jeni Bern
Bill Calhoun/Lucentio: Alan Burkitt
Harry Trevor/Baptista: Morgan Deare
Lois Lane/Bianca: Amelia Adams-Pearce
Hattie: Landi Oshinowo
Harrison Howell: David Peart
1st Gunman: Joseph Shovelton
2nd Gunman: John Savournin
Hortensio: Matthew Barrow
Gremio: Jon Tsouras
Gregory: Joseph Poulton
Phillip: Louis Quaye
Nathaniel: Adam Tench
Paul: Max Parker
Ralph (Stage Manager): Rosie Hay
Stage Doorman: Martin Lloyd
Cab Driver: Julian Boyce
Dancers: Alex Christian, Flora Dawson, Andrew Gordon-Watkins, Ella Martine, Jamie Emma McDonald, Matthew John Gregory
2016 UK tour:
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Wales (September 29-October 2, 2016)
Liverpool Empire Theatre (October 5-7, 2016)
Bristol Hippodrome (October 13-15, 2016)
New Theatre Oxford (October 27-29, 2016)
Mayflower Theatre Southampton (November 3-5, 2016)
Birmingham Hippodrome (November 10-12, 2016)
Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Wales, (November 24-26, 2016)
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Wales (December 6-10, 2016)
On Twitter:
@WNOTweet
For More Information:
https://www.wno.org.uk/event/cole-porters-kiss-me-kate
Selected Reviews:
Guardian review (4 stars, Cardiff performance): "a shoo-in for WNO’s Shakespeare-themed autumn season and a suitable antidote to its earlier Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice." "There’s always something irresistible about the feelgood factor of Porter’s music." "mischievous."
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/30/kiss-me-kate-review-welsh-national-opera
The Stage review (4 stars, Cardiff performance): "Opera companies tackling musicals doesn’t always work, but there are a couple of genuine advantages in the case of an old-school classic like Cole Porter’s brilliant backstage fantasia on Taming of the Shrew. One is that you get a chance to hear the full-scale original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and Don Walker, sounding a million dollars here under the baton of musicals specialist James Holmes. The other is the quality of voices lavished on some of Porter’s most romantic songs." https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2016/cole-porters-kiss-me-kate-at-wales-millennium-centre-hits-the-spot/
The Times review (4 stars, Cardiff Performance): "Iffy accents, but in the song and dance numbers there’s style, energy and high spirits galore"
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/theatre-kiss-me-kate-at-wales-millennium-centre-cardiff-ds3d8zvmc
Birmingham Post review (Birmingham performance): "absolutely fabulous" http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/review-kiss-kate-welsh-national-12160142
Funding and Sponsorship:
A co-production with Opera North
Another Op'nin' Show recording:
https://soundcloud.com/welshnationalopera/cole-porters-kiss-me-kate-another-opnin-another-show-1
