Locals Know - Kiss Me Kate

This is the first entry in what we will call our "Locals Know" series.
We hope to give you an insight with our opinions of the Shakespeare Festivals productions as we see them.

Two weeks ago we had the pleasure to attend the first preview performance of the production of "Kiss Me Kate" and what a spectacular start to the season. This show is yet another Cole Porter masterpiece that is sure to entertain. For those of you that aren't theatre junkies the "play within a play" concept might be a little confusing, but once you wrap your head around it you'll love the story. The cast is extremely strong and although we saw the play in it's infancy we think it will only continue to grow and get stronger and stronger. We will defiantly go back to see this one again.
The costumes are very fun but for us it was Chilina Kennedy that stole the show. Last year Chilina played Maria in "West Side Story" and the blonde tart in "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum." This year Chilina will perform in both "Kiss Me Kate" and the lead in "Evita" In this play she plays a ditsy actress and you can't help but love her antics. It will be a great contrast to see her switch to the poised Eva Perone one a daily basis. Chilina is a true rising star and we feel everyone should take the opportunity to see her now as she is defiantly going places.
The other thing that really struck us about this production was the dancing. Coming from a dance background I can say that all too often musicals offer pretty fluff in terms of dance numbers, but as we saw last year in "West Side Story" this isn't the case in Stratford. These actors are really hoof'n and the "Too Darn Hot" number that opens the second act is just that, HOT!
So in closing we will say enjoy the show, because we certainly did.

Check out this production clip.