HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-06-14, Page 27Theatre review
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 1989. PAGE 27.
Performances strong in dated‘Kiss Me Kate’
BY BONNIE GROPP
I love musicals. I am enthralled
by a beautiful voice and captivated
by an accomplished artiste. For the
most part, when I’m at the theatre I
like to be entertained and for the
most part Stratford Festival’s pro
duction of “Kiss Me Kate’’ is
entertaining.
The premise for this musical was
the brainstorm of a young stage
manager called Arnold Saint Sub-
ber. He had been working on a
production of “The Taming of the
Shrew” and was amused to find the
play’s two lead stars, husband and
wife Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fon-
tanne, bickering as furiously off
stage as they had been onstage. He
developed the idea for a backstage-
onstage musical based on the
Shrew and enlisted Lemuel Ayers,
a set designer as co-producer. They
approached playwright, Bella Spe
wack, who after some misgivings
agreed to write the book. Following
completion of her first rough draft,
she recommended Cole Porter to
arrange the score.
While the play is amusing, some
of the honour has not stood the test
of time in this post-women’s lib
society. It is archaic to laugh at a
man spanking or starving a woman
to tame her. Actually, though
people have reminded me that that
was then and times have changed I
find it difficult to believe that was
ever funny. Also, if the women in
the play weren’t portrayed as
shrews they were mildly immoral
bimbos.
A few spots throughout the play
lagged, most notably the song
“Always True To You (In My
Fashion” sung by Kate Hennig as
Lois Lane. Ms. Hennig, who man
aged to play the bimbo convincing
ly, has only a mediocre voice and
more than three verses of her
singing is too much.
But these are only minor flaws in
an otherwise entertaining package.
Jayne Lewis as Lilli Vanessi, was a
delight to listen to. Her pitch,
range and delivery are signs of a
trained performer. The lead role of
Fred Graham, was played believa
bly by Victor A. Young. He was
smooth and dashing yet didn’t
appear to be taking himself too
seriously. He seemed truly comfor
table with the portrayal. And
Doulgas Chamberlain and Dale
Mieske, as your stereotypical thugs
were perfect, from their Bronx
accents to their plaid suits.
There were several other high
lights during the play, particularly
a tap dance routine to “Too Darn
Hot”. It was marvelously choreo
graphed and exciting to watch.
Dirk Lumbard who played the part
of Bill Calhoun, was the principal
dancer in the ensemble and co-
choreographer as well.
Of course, Cole Porter’s score is
worthy of recognition. The songs
are timeless. “Kiss Me Kate” has
musical unity and is consistently
excellent. There are few duds in its
score.
The costumes, designed by
Lewis Brown, were magnificent.
Colourfully opulent and imagina
tive they kept you watching
throughout.
While “Kiss Me Kate” may
have a few problems, it does prove
overall to be entertaining. There is
something for everyone in it and
you can quickly find yourself
overlooking the miniscule flaws in
its framework. If you can ignore the
sexist slurs it’s actually good fun.
TEEN
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523-9381
Childhood tales spur Donnelly play
The legend of the Donnelly
murders at Lucan has horrified and
fascinated millions of Canadians
but few have been so fascinated as
playwright James Reaney: he end
ed up writing not one, but three
plays on the subject.
“Sticks and Stones”, the second
production of the Blyth Festival’s
season is the first of the trilogy of
Reaney plays on the Donnelly
legend. It opens June 21 and
continues in repertory until August
26.
“I first heard the Donnelly
legend when I was eight years
old,” Mr. Reaney recalls. “Since it
happened not 20 miles away from
where I was born, the effect of the
story was unforgettable: terror and
fascination. By 1946 I had begun to
think of a play, and in 1967, I
started to immerse myself in the
documentary background where it
Housing play
examines
solutions
Continued from page 26
will perform their stories, then will
perform them a second time with
members of the audience invited to
become involved by stopping the
play when they see an injustice
being done. The audience member
will then be invited to propose a
solution, then take the place of the
actor involved to play out the
solution and see if it works.
Although there are three com
panies involved in helping the
performers put their show togeth
er, it was Ms. Chandler’s Sheatre
company which is spearheading the
project, funded by a Canada Coun
cil Explorations grant.
The resulting piece will be
presented June 14 at the Guelph
Little Theatre 106 Dublin St.,
Guelph as part of the Bread and
Butter Festival. It will also be
presented June 16 at the Annex
Stage, beside the Royal Hotel,
MacDonnell St., Guelph. All per
formances are at 7:30 p.m. For
more information call 837-3470.
was stored in the Regional Ar
chives at the University of Western
Ontario” (where Mr. Reaney is a
professor of English).
“About 1969, I had a version
ready which tried to do the whole
story in three hours. I couldn’t stop
researching though; the well of
material is, I’m convinced, bottom
less: old newspapers, registry of
fice records, criminal records of
Middlesex and Huron Counties -
the sort of material that you find in
the attics of old courthouses and in
the minds of 90-year-olds.”
Workshop sessions held at Strat
ford resulted in actors saying they
didn’t know why the Donnelly’s
had been killed, Prof. Reaney says.
“By 1973 I thought I could answer
that question.” Although numer
ous directors had asked to see the
script he entrusted the work for
Keith Turnbull with whom he had
worked in summer theatre in
London in the mid-sixties. “Sticks
and Stones” premiered at the
Taragon Theatre in Toronto in
November 1973.
Later would come the other two
stories in the Donnelly Trilogy,
“The St. Nicholas Hotel, Wm.
Donnelly Prop.” and “Handcuffs”
The plays marked a landmark in
the writing of Prof. Reaney who is
also known for his poetry. The
plays combined history, poetry,
music, dance, mime and myth.
In the cast of that first production
of “sticks and Stones” was Jerry
Franken who will appear in “Perils
of Persephone” the opening pro
duction at the Festival this year and
who has acted and directed in the
Blyth company in recent seasons.
The Festival’s production of
“Sticks and Stones” is directed by
Terry Tweed with set and costume
design by Shawn Kerwin and
lighting design by Harry Frehner.
Stage fights are choreographed by
K. Reed Needles.
Thomas Hauff and Michelle Fisk
are featured as Mr. and Mrs.
Donnelly. Also in the cast are
Melissa Bell, Kevin Bundy, Scott
Fischer, David Fraser, Dean
Hawes, David Storch, Michael
Taylor, Stephen Walsh, Loma Wil
son and Robert Winslow.
.'e ,
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