Kiss Me, Kate (Leeds Grand Theatre & London Coliseum)

For anybody who needs help, here are the translations:

Emma Chisset: "How much is it?" This is apparently the example that started off the whole Strine thing.
Gloria Soame: "glorious home" This goes with 'She keeps Rome looken lovely'
Gest Vonner: "guest of honour"
Jess Tefter: "just have to"
Miss Gem: "Mr Chairman" Perhaps 'Miss German' might be closer.
Terror Souse: "terrace house"
Gloria Sarah Titch: "glorious heritage"

Sorry. No prizes, but a broadening of International understanding, although these days genuine Strine is dying out as the population of Oz takes on a distinctly South Eastern Asian character.

I seem to have taken this thread a long way from 'Kiss Me, Kate'. I hope members have enjoyed the diversion!

Try the side slips of the dress circle. Great view and often much cheaper

Oh tony, we already know what you look like and now we can practically hear your dulcet tones! It's a pity though that whilst you have lived here longer than the lifespan of any other poster you still haven't mastered the art of Received Pronunciation! Watch a couple of episodes of The Crown for the general idea... (The Queen is Very Good at it.)

Anyway your 'translations' remind me of the time my niece came home from school telling us that she was going to be doing loads of "Simon Cowell Fungus" for the end of term concert. We hadn't a clue what she was talking about but she insisted "really old people" (like her friend's dad) had loads of his records. When we asked what songs they would be singing the only one she could remember was Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Some seats are significantly cheaper than they are for Chess. For Kiss Me, Kate I paid £20 for rear dress circle, and the same seat is £75 for Chess.

I have never actually sat there myself yet, but from what the Theatremonkey says in his book, the seats at the ends of the rows in the Dress Circle are cheap (£20 for 'Kiss Me, Kate') because the view is partly obstructed by the boxes alongside the proscenium arch and the ones at the back are obstructed by the overhang from the Upper Circle above that cuts off the top of the stage. I have taken a chance and booked a £20 seat near the end of F row that is £75 for 'Chess'!

It's not an ENO production so they don't set the prices - it'll be that high because Opera North wanted it to be.

Last time I saw this was the front row stalls of Nottingham theatre royal. Today I was the sides of the dress circle in a very hot (too darn hot) Leeds Grand. Despite a hot and uncomfortable seat it is still Wunderbar

Opera North know how to stage a musical. ENO please take note. Despite a fantastically large cast this production does look small and intimate. I wonder how it will fare in the Coliseum.

On the design the colours used are so bright and vivid (I loved the backdrops) and then in other scenes quite sepia. Looks a treat in my book

I missed it at the Lowry a couple of years ago.

Leeds is much closer to where I live than London... so of course I'm seeing it in London (it's a dates/times thing, I'll be in London anyway while it's running there). Even if the Coliseum turns out not to be the best venue for it, it's worth it to hear that score performed by great singers and a very large orchestra.

Thank you very much for that BurlyBeaR. I've just booked a front row seat that is now the same price as I paid in Leeds rather than double!

I was hoping to be knocked out by this but I'm afraid it was only modified rapture.

The very good news is that the show is performed in very much the original format that I remember from seeing the Australian production in 1952 (several times) which was a straight reproduction of the Broadway original, and the best news is that the score is given totally complete with underscoring, music for scene changes and all the encores for "Always True to You" and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" in the reconstructed edition by David Charles Abell and Seann Alderkin of the original Robert Russell Bennett and Don Walker orchestrations. Musically I thought it was superb, with a glorious orchestra, some top class singing from the principals and a robust contribution from the Chorus of Opera North.

So what didn't I like? The messy staging and big open set that failed to provide any satisfactory small spaces, particularly for the intimate scenes in the dressing rooms and those at the Stage Door. I also found some of the dialogue scenes were a bit underpowered, like the scenes with Harrison Howell but that might be due to my failing hearing. I had no problems with hearing the singing and I could hear and understand every word, although they are rather familiar to me!

To be honest, I thought the direction didn't always work particularly well, especially as the Coliseum is a big house to get dialogue across.

1. The interplay between the principals in the opening scene of the calls didn't seem all that clear and I barely noticed Lilli calling Fred a bastard. I really disliked the staging of "Another Opening, Another Show" which I thought was too complicated and crammed with far too much business. It's a good strong solo for Hattie and an opportunity for a big dance number for the ensemble. That's enough!

2. The next musical numbers were all well done until "I Hate Men" which didn't seem to have any dramatic justification. The original production made this more of a slapstick scene for Kate who sat at a large table laden with piles of pewter plates which she banged with a large pewter mug. Without any comic business for Kate I thought the number didn't make as much impact as I was expecting.

3. I thought the Shrew scenes went well enough and the Act I finale was good, but I failed to see the need to start Act II back in the middle of the Act I finale.

4. For me, "Too Darn Hot" was totally wrongly staged. It is supposed to be some of the Shrew company in the alley behind the theatre outside the stage door cooling off in the hot weather. Here, it seemed to be performed on stage on the set of "Shrew" (but I might have got that wrong) and the staging and choreography to me failed to reflect the particular jazz idiom in which Porter brilliantly set the song. Stefan Anelli as Paul taking the solo was excellent but I would not have put Hattie into the number as well.

5. The stage setting for "Where is the Life that Late I Led" included a staircase going up into the wings which was supposed to lead to Kate's bedroom but the door could not be seen. This gave Petruchio a problem making sense of his dialogue when he tries to go into the bedroom and says: "I'faith, the lady hath shot her bolt" or something like that. I wasn't totally happy with the young ladies materialising during the second verse but it was OK. For me, this is a magnificent solo for Petruchio and doesn't need to be 'illustrated' – if the singer is worth his salt he should be able to supply all the imagery needed with his singing.

6. From then on we had a succession of four fabulous musical numbers very well staged and performed to perfection. Zoe Rainey knew exactly how to sing "Always true to you in my fashion" to make the most of its double entendres, and the five minutes of "Bianca" was total theatrical heaven thanks to Alan Burkitt's inspired singing and dancing. We then had a beautiful reprise of "So in Love" by Quirijn de Lang and finally "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" by Joseph Shovelton and John Savournin. How clever was Cole Porter to provide this show-stopping number as a kind of afterthought before the denoument and finale of both "The Shrew" and "Kiss Me, Kate".

7. So my feeling at the end was that the cast gave us a great musical performance of "Kiss Me, Kate" which was somewhat let down by an unsatisfactory set and some rather messy staging. So five stars to the cast for their musical performance, four for their dramatic performance and two stars for the set and staging.

PS I can’t lay my hands on my piano score to check whether it indicates Act II starting with a reprise of the end of the Act I finale*. I don’t remember this happening in the Australian production but I could be wrong and presumably the Abell reconstructed score includes this. Also, Kate does have some comic business with a male lute player in “I Hate Men” but I didn't think it was very effective.

*Oops! I hope that doesn't count as a spoiler and if so, I apologise.

Very surprised by the tenor of the reviews though perhaps I shouldn't be given how many indifferent productions of musical classics here get a free pass from the critics. But as someone who saw the unsurpassable Michael Blakemore revival of this show on Broadway and then at the VP in London, this one is a tepid also-ran -- three of the four principals are miscast (Zoe Rainey is a wonderful performer but not remotely plausible as Bianca -- though she'd make a good Katherine, I would imagine) and the production doesn't sit well on the Coli' stage -- it's built for much smaller spaces so most of the set is fringed in darkness (and also underlit). The orchestra was good so there is that, and we have Kelli O'Hara coming to Bway in this next spring, and THAT should be sensational.

Audience response last night, by the way, pretty wan -- felt as if they were willing themselves to like it without actually caring one way or the other.