Kiss Me Kate

WRITTEN BY: Samuel and Bella Spewack
MUSIC BY: Cole Porter
PERFORMED AT: Watkins Glen High School auditiorium
PERFORMED ON: Friday November 7-8 (7:30pm) and 9 (2:30pm), 2008
DIRECTED BY: Tim Benjamin
MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Kim Calwell
PRODUCED BY: Lake Country Players
CAST:
* LILLI VANESSI/KATHERINE- Holly Campbell
* FRED GRAHAM/PETRUCHIO- Steve Hovis
* LOIS LANE/BIANCA- Kelsey Olafson
* BILL CALHOUN/LUCENTIO- Robert Cornelius
* GENERAL HARRISON HOWELL- David A. Scott
* MAN 1- Andy Parker
* MAN 2- Bill Cornelius
* HARRY TREVOR/BAPTISTA- Mike Truesdail
* HORTENSIO/FLYNT/MUSICAN- Jacq Goehner
* GREMIO/RILEY/MUSICIAN/MEN'S TRIO- Andy Blanchard
* HATTIE- Jane Daum
* PAUL- Khaya Makhubu
* RALPH- Anthony Curren
* WARDROBE LADY/WOMEN'S QUARTET- Beth Clark
* POPS/PRIEST- Gene Holleran
* STAGEHAND/CORE DANCER/MEN'S TRIO- Sam Capozzi
* STAGEHAND/PHILIP/MUSICIAN- Chuck Luppe
* STAGEHAND/HABERDASHER/DRIVER/MUSICIAN- Charlie Cole
* DANCE CAPTAIN/GREGORY/CORE DANCER/MUSICIAN/MEN'S TRIO- Adam Zimmer
ENSEMBLE:
* CORE DANCER/WOMEN'S QUARTET- Sarah Calk
* Hannah Capozzi
* Tesha Carrigan
* Deanne Combs
* Martin Eccleston
* Hasniyah Larayos
* Amy Moore
* Meghan Moore
* Grace Terry
* Nancy Cole
* WOMEN'S QUARTET- Michelle Benjamin
* WOMEN'S QUARTET- Barbra Lavelle
* SERVING WENCH- Zandra Lewis

PLOT: An egotistical theater director (Steven Hovis) and his diva ex-wife (Holly Campbell) reunite amidst chaotic events that occur during a live production of William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew". A musical comedy in two acts.

HISTORY: Having received the lead role of Che in "Evita" with Elmira Little Theater, it made sense not to try out for the Lake Country Players production of "Kiss Me Kate". After all, "Evita" was an October show, while "Kate" was a November show, leading to plenty of overlap between separate rehearsal schedules. So, as I'd already been rehearsing "Evita" for over a month, I let the LCP auditions of late August pass me by. Since I had already done KLP's "Oklahoma" two months before "Evita", I was becoming satisfied with having already done two musicals that year.
However, I received a call in early September that the director was still looking for someone to fill the role of General Harrison Howell. Since the role was only a two-scene/one-song part in Act Two, I made it known that I was interested. Understanding that I wouldn't be off-book until after "Evita" finished its run, I was accepted into the cast. In my brief appearance as General Harrison (a part not in the 1948 version, but added to the revival in 1999), I finally get to do a true duet with Holly (my leading lady in "Beauty and the Beast"). It also reunites me with past co-stars Steve Hovis ("Oklahoma") and Andy Parker ("The Golden Age of Radio"), among others.
Another reason for doing "Kiss Me Kate" is its connection to various facets of my past: 1) My high school drama club put the show on one year after I'd graduated; 2) I (with a chorus of other students) performed the play's opening number ("Another Opening, Another Show") in a community college musical revue (also titled "Another Opening..."); and 3) The play within this play is "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare, whose plays I hadn't been involved with in over ten years (despite receiving the role of Bottom in an aborted 2007 LCP Summer production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream"). Because of all this, even a small role in this show would become my way of tying up some loose ends.
Despite a chest cold that affected my voice during final rehearsals, I recovered in full by performance time. And though I'd rehearsed with the cast only sporadically until the final two weeks, I was made to feel as welcome as anyone else, and had a terrific time with the cast and crew. Because of it all, "Kiss Me Kate" capped off the crazy but satisfying period in which I got to perform three musicals in six months.
SIDE NOTE: I was also involved in two fund-raising events for this show. One was a Summer car wash at the Watkins Glen Wal-Mart, with the car-washers wearing 1970's-era clothing; the other, a Fall "Zombie Walk", where LCP members and other guests walked around downtown Watkins dressed as Zombies. That same Fall, there was also the annual historic "Ghost Walk" in Montour Falls, which I was too busy with "Evita" to attend. (My wife, meanwhile, took part in the car wash and the ghost walk.)