It’s Too Darn Hot, and other Kiss Me, Kate facts
Posted on 19 January 2024
Wunderbar! Summer 2024 is looking a lot brighter (some may say it’s Too Darn Hot…) as the bawdy Broadway classic, Kiss Me, Kate makes it’s much anticipated return to the UK! The cult musical comedy first premiered over seven decades ago and has been thrilling audiences ever since.
The much-loved musical has been adapted countless times, including multiple TV shows and an Oscar winning 3D film, but the musical within a musical just hits differently when it’s played on a stage – it’s based on a Shakespeare play after all!
Line of Duty icon Adrian Dunbar and Broadway legend Stephanie J Block will be both making their West End musical debuts in this year’s reincarnation, promising that the latest version of the much-loved story will be anything but Another Op’nin, Another Show…
So, we all know that the musical is a must-see, but did you know that a couple of cowboys and a scrapped song are responsible for making the show such a success? Read on for more fascinating facts behind this year’s hotly anticipated musical.
It’s based on a real quarrelling couple.
Kiss Me, Kate is inspired by The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, and although the characters closely resemble those of Petruchio and Katherine, Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi are actually based on another, real-life, couple...
Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi’s exhilarating exchanges are fictional, but the concept of fighting co-stars was based on real-life theatrical duo. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were a husband and wife acting team who, from the 1920s – 1950s, starred in over two dozen productions together. Over the course of their 30-year career, their fights became legendary. The couple constantly strove for perfection and rehearsed almost continuously, which would cause fractions in any relationship, let alone one comprised of a pair of (literal) drama queens. Like Graham and Vanessi, Lunt and Fontanne landed the lead roles in The Taming of the Shrew, and just like Graham and Vanessi, the performance was more dramatic off stage then it was on. Lunt and Fontanne quarrelled mercilessly backstage, then would walk on stage and continue their heated debate (albeit now using Shakespearian verse), and then would storm off again to continue their disagreements, all without missing a beat!
The show’s based in Baltimore, but has its roots in Oklahoma
Kiss Me, Kate is a direct response to Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! The legendary lyrists, Cole Porter, was inspired by the musical visionary technique used to drive scenes, deliver dialogue and carry the show forward. Integrated musicals started to appear everywhere, bringing with it a new age of the musical. Inspired by the changing landscape, Kiss Me, Kate became Cole’s first show in which the music and lyrics were firmly connected to the script. Ironically, Rodgers and Hammerstein were supposed to provide the score for Kiss Me, Kate but this role was later given to Porter when the pair pulled out to make Me & Juliet. Whilst Kiss Me Kate became Porters biggest success, Me & Juliet flopped.
It’s a history maker
Kiss Me, Kate won the first ever Tony Award for Best Musical when the category was first introduced in 1949. Not content with one bit of bling however, the show went on to win a further four Tonys at that year’s ceremony, including Best Original Score, Best Author and Best Costume Design. Revivals of the musical were just as successful, with the 1999 production picking up five Tony’s, whilst the West End version collected two Olivier awards. It wasn’t just a critical success, audiences went wild for the show, and it quickly became Porter’s most popular works, running for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway.
Many of the songs had a life after the show, and one was around before it
Outside the theatre, several of the songs became huge hits in their own right, with ‘Wunderbar’, ‘Always True to You (In My Fashion)’ and ‘So In Love’ being recorded by a number of prolific artists in the late 40s and beyond. Famous fans who released their own versions of the musical numbers included Ella Fritzgerald, Peggy Lee, Julie Andrews and Shirley Bassey. Their toe-tapping tracks went on to top the music charts for several months!
It's hard to imagine, but one of Kiss Me, Kate’s most iconic songs, 'Wunderbar', was never meant to have been in the show. The song was initially written by Cole Porter for Aladdin, oh yes it was! However it was ultimately decided that it didn’t fit with the rest of the production, and what was Aladdin’s loss was Kate’s gain.
It was too blue for the silver screen.
The hit musical was adapted into an Oscar winning film in the 50s, however some of the original Broadway lyrics were considered too risqué for the movie. The crude puns listed in 'Brush Up Your Shakespeare' and the repetition of Richards name in Tom Dick or Harry in particular worried the producers. They weren’t the only ones that thought Porters lyrics were a little smutty, with his mother claiming that her son was 'a very naughty boy!' She’s not wrong, the word Dick is sung ten times in 20 seconds in Tom Dick or Harry.
There are musical variations between the film and theatre versions. In the cinematic relesae 'Another Op'nin', Another Show' serves only as an instrumental for a dance break in 'Why Can't You Behave?' and 'From this Moment On' was taken from another of Porter’s projects and included in the show. The song was so successful in the film that it was added to later versions of the musical.
Book Kiss Me, Kate tickets today
Tickets are now on sale for the classic comedy musical, Kiss Me, Kate, but you can’t get them from any Tom, Dick or Harry! Book yours exclusively through London Theatre Direct today.
