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

I'm not going to sit on the fence here - I didn't enjoy it and was very disappointed.

Too Darn Slow!

The running time was almost 3 hours and we did not get out until 10.25pm! I felt this was not due to the reprises which are in the show but the pace of the dialogue and the tempo of some of the numbers (Wunderbar, So in Love) were slow too.

On the positive side the orchestra were excellent and the singing too was glorious but on this showing I do feel that Opera companies should not do musicals - it is a different discipline.

It is in the wrong theatre - far too big for this. I was in the 4th row of the Dress Circle and the show seemed miles away and black legs brought the stage in by about a third. The set looked lost.

The production reminded me of the old D'Oyly Carte Opera where the shows were set in aspic and this had all the traits! The chorus just coming on and standing and singing while the "dancers" danced in front! The chorus managed to raise their arms at the same time which seemed a considerable achievement. Cloths were caught on other scenery, there was a mal functioning sliding panel, poor lighting (underlit) and an overuse of the follow spots.

Some very odd staging decisions - I Hate Men and Too Darn Hot - which failed completely to lift off being set on the stage with the cast just hot under the lights in their costumes rather than in the back alley of the theatre by the stage door cooling off in the night air, which is sexy, sweaty and jazzy.

Performance wise - it was well sung but only the actors playing Bill and Lois made an impact and delivered the best musical numbers of the evening - a show stopping "Always true to you Darling in my Fashion" from Lois and "Bianca" from Bill - great tap dancing! But the company were mercifully off stage for these.

The ending of the show sits very uncomfortably now with the wife kneeling to her husband in subjugation.

However, despite the swathes of empty seats in the Dress Circle (the pricing for this is ridiculous) the old ladies around me (when they shut up talking and unwrapping boiled sweets) LOVED it. No standing ovation, however, warm applause, and everyone just seemed happy to get out.... at last.

I think the best way to enjoy this production is to close your eyes and just listen to it.

I didn’t realise how good the Michael Blakemore production was until I saw the woeful Sir Trev revival at the Old Vic, which pretty much put me off the show. That, coupled with the fact I hated Jo Davies’ Carousel, means I’ll be giving this a wide berth.

I was at the Thursday matinee and was underwhelmed by this. It would sound arrogant to say that perhaps it seemed more special to regional audiences and that's not true anyway, as on the same day Michael Billington gave it a 4-star review. However, though it was perfectly pleasant it wasn't the outstanding experience I had been led to expect and was hoping for, and with hindsight I'd have preferred to spend the money - and the precious time - seeing something new or more deserving.

It was also far too slow; indeed, at the end of the first act I wasn't even sure whether it was worth staying but I did - partly because it was a bit late to hope to fit in a film before the evening play I'd booked. So in the end I had a reasonably good time but as with 42nd Street and An American In Paris, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. After not really "getting" those and hating The Rink, I really need to have my faith in musicals restored, but I don't know what it will take to do that.

I agree with much of the above tonyloco although I did think the production and some of the numbers slow. Certainly shows of that era were/are 3 hours long - currently the R&H King & I at the Palladium.

But shows cannot be preserved in aspic. I witnessed a total re-imagining and impressively sung production of G&S Iolanthe with an all male cast in the same week as Kiss Me Kate. D'Oyly Carte Opera Company went to the wall trying to preserve these shows as they were originally staged.

So I think that revivals of musicals today have to recognise the changes - a shorter attention span for example and up their game. So I think the numbers in this show needed a little more pep, as did the dialogue.

I agree completely about the lack of chemistry between the leads, and when the supporting roles were better played (Bill and Lois) it unbalanced the whole show. Some of the staging too simply did not work as you say.

 But I didn't:  if you read what I wrote you can see that I was struggling to comprehend the gulf between the reviews/my expectations, and my actual experience.  Hence I considered, but discounted ("but that's not true anyway"), the possibility that people in the south-east, who are spoilt for choice when it comes to theatre, are less easily impressed.  I still don't know what the answer is but I am clearly not the only one who didn't find this as good as s/he hoped.

Not selling well. No wonder concerning the prices without any famous names. The balcony was closed on Saturday afternoon and we were upgraded to stalls seats that are over 100 Pounds . It stretched a bit at the beginning, but then we thought it was very enjoyable (especially the beautiful dance scenes)and it was very funny as well. And guess what there where some people giving standing ovation for this - no, but a solid 3,5 stars from me.

Nobody stopped me this evening.

(Loved the show, too.)

I enjoyed this last night. Nowhere near as good as the Blakemore production but the score sounded absolutely wonderful with a full orchestra imho.

The set and costumes are in general on the cheap and tacky side, but the singing was glorious. The two leads were good acting wise, although they didn't have enough chemistry. Zoë Rainey was very funny as Bianca. Alan Burkitt as Bill was for me the weakest link here, his acting and singing were adequate but his tap dancing routine was quite weak. I believe Ashley Day played the part before him. It would have been interesting to see him in the part as Day is imho a much better and slicker dancer.

Overall it was a fun night out. You can't really go wrong with Cole Porter!

The sets are made for touring and have to share the trucks and stage space with two operas.

I saw the show in Nottingham and recently in Leeds. The stages are much smaller and I thought fitted into the theatres really well.

I really like the sets of swirling walls and I thought the backdrops looked great, such vivid colours on the tapestries as if an old master was ‘refreshed’

I saw this last night and was a little worried looking at the reactions here.

I have to say I really enjoyed it, I went in blind, but really found it funny and engaging. The audience seemed to enjoy it, lots of laughs and a lot of the numbers well received, I particularly loved the tap solo.

I didn't see a big problem with the set, it seemed to fit the show. I know a lot of people on here love the set for 42nd street, but I had more issues with that and the backdrops.

I'd say it was about 4 stars for me.

I've just come out of the final performance and on the whole I really enjoyed it. It wasn't as good as the Nunn Chichester performance or the John Wilson Prom production but some aspects I enjoyed more than these two efforts. First of all the negatives. Yes it doesn't sit well on the vast Coliseum stage, only occupying around two thirds of the space but that's to be expected coming from a smaller theatre and I liked the production and didn't find it cheap skate. 'Too Darn Hot' was badly staged and didn't have the sexiness of the Chichester version. This song is one of the best second act openers ever and this was poor. Another sure fire number that was second rate was 'Brush up Your Shakespeare.' It would have been much better played by two comic actors. The words weren't clear enough either.

But it was great to hear the show with the full orchestra and vocally I think it benefited from having two operatic leads. Songs like 'So in Love' and 'Kiss me Kate' have a big range with difficult intervals to negotiate and it was great to hear them sung with total security. I also thought they played the lighter moments well - in that sense they are both difficult roles to cast.

Lois and Bill were more 'musical comedy' and they both did their numbers really well. Fantastic dancing from Bill in 'Bianca.'