It’s Sunday Showstopper Snippet Day!!! As summer rolls along, many parts of the country are in the midst of a major heatwave, it’s just ‘too darn hot!’ Such was the case during the play-within-the-play of Cole Porter’s KISS ME KATE. Based on Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ this scene finds the chorus of the play-within-the-play behind the theatre, lamenting the hot weather off stage (and the hot weather ON stage between the leading actors). The ironic part of this number, as hot as it is, the characters ‘cool off’ by dancing their butts off!
KISS ME KATE was Porter’s answer to Rodger & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! His goal was to pen a musical where, as in Oklahoma!, the songs and dances advance the story, rather than just interject as inconsequential ‘entertainment’ to break up the acting scene
s. This is the only Cole Porter show that ran for over 1000 performances on Broadway in its original incarnation, and, in 1949, won 5 Tony Awards including the FIRST-EVER given Tony for Best Musical!
This snippet is from the 1999/2000 Tony Award winning Broadway revival which starred Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie, and featured Stanley Wayne Mathis (Bookof Morman, Nice Work, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown) as Paul (the character of focus in this extremely energetic, happy-tappy-clappy showstopper). Blast that air conditioner and enjoy the heat!
