{"id":81070,"date":"2019-03-15T00:25:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T04:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/kelli-ohara-dazzles-in-kiss-me-kate-on-broadway-review\/"},"modified":"2019-03-15T00:25:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T04:25:31","slug":"kelli-ohara-dazzles-in-kiss-me-kate-on-broadway-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/kelli-ohara-dazzles-in-kiss-me-kate-on-broadway-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelli O\u2019Hara Dazzles in \u2018Kiss Me, Kate\u2019 on Broadway: REVIEW"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kelli O\u2019Hara Dazzles in \u2018Kiss Me, Kate\u2019 on Broadway: REVIEW<\/b><\/p>\n

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Kelli O\u2019Hara is sprawled across the front of the stage at Studio 54, making a meal of \u201cI Hate Men,\u201d truly an anthem for our times. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hate the most the athlete with his manner bold and brassy,\u201d she sings, as if referring directly to the gay<\/a> thots of Instagram. \u201cHe may have hair upon his chest but, sister, so has Lassie!\u201d The defiant melody from her title character provides the most satisfying bite of Roundabout Theatre Company\u2019s altogether delectable production of Kiss Me, Kate<\/em>, which opened on Broadway tonight. <\/p>\n

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The revival seems to prove, yet again, that it\u2019s possible for a visionary creative team to whip up a fresh confection from ingredients that have surely passed their expiration date. (See also: My Fair Lady<\/em>, currently running at Lincoln Center.) <\/p>\n

Though Cole Porter favorites like \u201cWunderbar\u201d and \u201cToo Darn Hot\u201d may be timeless musical theatre standards, they are also entirely incidental to the story by Sam and Bella Spewack, which presents a willful and self-possessed woman<\/a> as a problem simply in need of the right fella. <\/p>\n

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Shakespeare calls<\/a> her an \u201cirksome, brawling scold\u201d and a \u201cwildcat\u201d in The Taming of the Shrew<\/em>. O\u2019Hara\u2019s Kate isn\u2019t nearly as extreme as all that, just a show business diva with a chip on her shoulder and bad taste in men<\/a>. She\u2019s co-starring with her ex (played by Will Chase) in a musical production of that play, when an off-stage betrayal turns their on-stage drama as dueling lovers into all-out war. Gambling debt, gangsters, and a secondary love plot between the superb Corbin Bleu and Stephanie Styles fuel the classic backstage drama. <\/p>\n

Director Scott Ellis, who\u2019s proven his hand at irresistible takes on old-fashioned material, including 2016\u2019s She Loves Me<\/em>, dishes up gobs of flash and sizzle. Dazzling choreography by Warren Carlyle does, too \u2014 watch for a number that sends Bleu tapping from floor to ceiling and a scorching \u201cToo Darn Hot\u201d that somehow manages to feel both languid and propulsive. David Rockwell\u2019s scenic design makes fast and beautiful work of countless shifts between scenes on stage, backstage, and inside star dressing rooms.<\/p>\n

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Ellis smartly finesses the dated story so that our sympathies lie firmly with its heroine. Composer and lyricist Amanda Green is also credited with providing additional material, to edit and smooth the musical\u2019s more arcane edges. <\/p>\n

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But the production shines thanks in large part to O\u2019Hara, who remains one of the finest vocalists working today, her operatic honey tones perfectly suited to the bygone era of musical theatre that\u2019s come to define her career, from The Pajama Game<\/em> to The King and I<\/em><\/a>. Though it\u2019s clear Kate deserves better than to bounce between the arms of lousy men<\/a>, O\u2019Hara breathes such life into her that it\u2019s easy to forgive the character\u2019s flaws \u2014 which are, in any case, the fault of her creators. <\/p>\n

When Kate ultimately returns to her ex, having briefly run off with a man<\/a> whose only purpose is to prove worse than what she\u2019s got, their reunion feels like a deflation. \u201cMates, hold your temper and meekly put your hand \u2018neath the sole of your lover\u2019s foot,\u201d she sings. Gone is the Kate who walloped her soon-to-be husband\u2019s ass<\/a> so hard he could hardly sit down. Here is Kate the vessel that even a clever reimagining can\u2019t fill. \u201cMy hand is ready.\u201d If only it were poised to write a musical worthy of a headstrong woman<\/a> who has no need of being tamed. <\/p>\n

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Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

(photos: joan marcus)<\/p>\n

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The post Kelli O\u2019Hara Dazzles in \u2018Kiss Me, Kate\u2019 on Broadway: REVIEW<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Kelli O\u2019Hara Dazzles in \u2018Kiss Me, Kate\u2019 on Broadway: REVIEW<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n