Gimme a Kiss

Hoof On' Horn's spring mounting of Kiss Me, Kate is a more-than-adequate fit for Duke's fickle romance environment. Director David Foster says this play is about "absurdly passionate people" and their relationships. The work illustrates a somewhat inflammatory idea that sometimes volatility instead of stability can make for a lasting couple. The book for the musical, written by Bella and Samuel Spewack, was in fact based on an actual tempestuous pair performing in a 1935 Theatre Guild production of The Taming of the Shrew. The result is a humorous play-within-a-play about Shakespeare, an acting company and love.

Jessica Mass as Lilli Vanessi/Katherine and Jason Ford as Fred Graham/Petruchio do a more than admirable job portraying the bellicose starts, and their charged performances are only accentuated by an adept and sexually suggestive staging. Vocally, however, it is Mass that stands out.

What could have been a truly outstanding production, however, was hampered by several factors. First, and apparent from the overture onward, was the imprecise and overly brassy nature of the orchestra. What began as a mere annoyance became a severe hindrance later in the act when it became difficult to hear the actors over their accompaniment. Even when the orchestra was wise enough to stay in the background, a second problem came into play. There was definite and apparent "mic"-ing in this production, but what was a good idea became detraction when some actors were unevenly amplified, and some not at all.

As for the remains of the play--the choreography was effective if not stunning, the supporting actors and chorus adequate but not awesome and the set similar to the Tony award-winning Broadway design but lacking in its depth. This production, in sum, is a typical student presentation--underrealized, probably underfunded, but with enough diamonds in the rough to make it worth a viewing.