Fun noises off, sweet noises on — it’s a Kiss to build a dream on
COLE Porter’s biggest hit is a sophisticated riff on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew — layered, witty and full of mischief. This interpretation by Opera North, originally directed by Jo Davies and now revived by Ed Goggin, draws on talent from the worlds of both opera and musical theatre, and, though lavish to the point of indulgence, it’s a romantic tribute to the richness of Porter’s score.
In essence this is a portrait of the skirmishes, onstage and off, that plague a chaotic musical version of the Shakespeare comedy. The central figures are divorced couple Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, performing nightly as the playwright’s fiercely egotistical Petruchio and Kate. As they bicker, and as other people’s dramas swirl around them, we see the feverish chemistry of a touring theatre company and the messy reality of life behind the scenes, while Colin Richmond’s designs evoke the gaudy faux-medievalism of their take on Shakespeare’s very un-PC efforts.
Musically, it’s a treat. The orchestra, under conductor James Holmes, conjures a glorious lushness. David Charles Abell and Seann Alderking have taken great pains to restore the original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett, which have a lovely roundness and sweep. Quirijn de Lang and Stephanie Corley, both opera singers, are charismatic as Fred and Lilli.
Corley has moments of vulnerability but also blazing passion, and de Lang is a supple, articulate presence with an easy authority, even if he’s a bit too personable to convince as a control freak and has been saddled with an unfortunate wig and leather outfit. There’s fine support, with Zoë Rainey bringing a bright sense of comedy to ambitious Lois, who’s been cast as Shakespeare’s Bianca. Fred is pursuing her, yet she has other things on her mind — chiefly the reckless gambling of her boyfriend Bill.
He’s played with acrobatic verve by Alan Burkitt, while John Savournin and Joseph Shovelton get plenty of laughs as the gangsters chasing down Bill’s debts. Opera North’s mighty chorus also deserves plaudits, as does the quicksilver Stephane Anelli, who makes a showstealing appearance in a smallish role as Fred’s dresser.
That’s not to say that the production is without shortcomings. A few of these are inherent features of Kiss Me, Kate: an overstuffed first half, a slightly abrupt ending, and passages of comic dialogue by book-writers Bella and Samuel Spewack that lack sparkle.
Here the sheer scale of the Coliseum’s stage is a problem, too. But while it causes some of the story’s moments of intimacy to go missing, the score’s grandeur, range and clever symmetries could hardly be better served.
⬤ Until June 30 (020 7845 9300, londoncoliseum.org)