Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Earlier this year, there was a musical stage production of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’, based on the 1948 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The stage musical was shown from June to September 2024 and it was performed at the Barbican theatre in London.

Sadly, I didn’t get to see the stage version of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ in London. Thankfully, according to Peter Davison when I saw him in Exeter in October this year, there was a film crew that recorded ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ on stage for three days, which is brilliant. I’m glad they did that. 🙂

Thus, I got to see ‘Kate Me Kate: The Musical’ on the big screen at the cinema recently. It was a limited release at cinemas, and I believe it was only in the UK, but I got to see the production as it would have been performed live and watch Peter Davison star in it too. 🙂

I don’t usually see theatre productions recorded for the big screen at the cinema very often. In fact, this was my first experience of one. It was fascinating to see, especially in terms of how the cameras were cutting between various characters throughout the story.

I’ve not seen the 1953 film with Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keeler, and I’m not sure if the 2024 London musical matches to the 1948 Broadway musical, but I imagine that liberties were taken in updating the stage version of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ for modern audiences.

The story of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ is about a divorced pair of actors – Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi – who are brought together to perform a musical version of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ by William Shakespeare. Unfortunately, tensions are raised as they work together.

I’m not sure I fully comprehend how the story is meant to play out in the stage production and perhaps I should have seen the 1953 film first, but it was very entertaining to watch. Hopefully, when I get a chance, I’ll see the 1953 film soon and understand the plot better.

The titular ‘Kate’ is the character that Lilli Vanessi plays – specifically, the lead role of Katherine in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. Again, this was my first experience of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ and I don’t know much about ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, but it was fascinating to uncover.

Adrian Dunbar plays Fred Graham a.k.a. Petruchio (in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’) in the stage musical. Stephanie J. Block plays Lilli Vanessi a.k.a. Katherine. There’s also Charlie Stemp as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio and there’s Georgina Onourah as…Lois Lane (?)/Bianca.

No, the last one’s not a Superman joke. That’s what the character’s called in the story. 😀 There’s also Nigel Lindsay and Hammed Animashaun who play two gangsters trying to get money off from Fred whilst he’s directing and performing his ‘Taming of the Shrew’. 😀

Peter Davison and Stephanie J Block in ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ – Photo by Johan Persson

And of course, there’s Peter Davison, the highlight of the musical for me, playing General Harrison Howell. Peter is well-known for playing Tristan Farnon in the original ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ BBC TV series as well as the Fifth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’. 🙂

Sadly, Peter only appears in the second half of the stage musical, which is a shame. I enjoyed him playing an American general in the musical whilst watching him on the big screen. I believe this is the first time I’ve seen him play an American character in anything.

I’m thankful there was an intermission of 15 minutes between the first and second half of the stage musical, making it feel like we’re watching this as a theatre production. It’s something to bear in mind when watching these theatre productions on a cinema screen.

The songs featured in the production include ‘Too Darn Hot’, ‘Why Can’t You Behave?’, ‘Wunderbar’, ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’, ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’ and of course ‘Kiss Me, Kate’. I’m sure those songs will come back to me when I get to check out the 1953 film. 🙂

The latest stage musical version of ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ was very enjoyable to check out at the cinema. It was an unusual experience to see a stage musical like that on the big screen, but it was fun, and I’m pleased I got to see Peter Davison play an American General in it. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂