KISS ME, KATE

 

The opening night of Kiss Me, Kate, at the venerable Pasadena Playhouse, was great fun, from start to finish!

I’ll give you every single detail of the evening, but first–I must share this tidbit with my faithful twitter followers @MajorCelebrity, who are waiting for this info: (Drum roll, please.) This is where I bumped into my old pal, Adam Lambert! We chatted at both intermission and the after-party, and, not to make anyone jealous, we even shared multiple juicy hugs! More celeb deets in a second, (and again, at the end,) and, of course, we have my glowing review of the production itself to get to!

What a star-studded night this was!!! This new version of Kiss Me, Kate, which featured their Diversity Project Gala after the show, brought out a panoply of celebrities, including Joey Fatone, Diahann Carroll, Charlene Tilton, French Stewart, and my all-time fave, the aforementioned Adam Lambert. (More on him to come.) How diverse was that group???

And this classic musical deserved the attention; it was tons of fun.

But before the actual show review, you know I have to discuss the evening in order.

It began with a warm greeting from Pasadena Playhouse Executive Director, Elizabeth Doran. She not only directed our attention to the theatre’s recent renovations, (including brand new seats and carpets, which were both much appreciated,) she also introduced two fabulous actresses who had both portrayed the titular Kate in the past: Ninety-one-year-old Anne Jeffreys, and ninety-nine-year-old Patricia Morison, who originated the role on Broadway!!! And you know what? They both looked better than just about everyone else there!!! (Excepting Adam, of course. I can just hear him scoffing if I said that to him, though.) I’ve seen both doyennes of the theatre many times before, but, in the context of this production, it was even more special. And, of course, they both received standing ovations to thunderous applause.

Then, Ms. Doran introduced the evening’s honoree, Diahann Carroll. How interesting she turned-out to be. Because my parents were big fans of hers, it seems that my whole life I’ve been aware that she was not only a trailblazer for black actors, but also gorgeous and classy. But I had no idea Diahann Carroll was so funny!!! I quickly jotted-down some of her bon mots to share with you, but, upon re-reading them, I realized that you had to hear her delivery of the lines. It was spot-on. Just trust me about her rapier wit.

And they did this all from the front of the auditorium, rather than on the stage, which made it more intimate. We audience members really did feel a part of the proceedings, rather than simply witnesses to them.

All these opening festivities sufficiently warmed-up the audience for the show to come. (And really, warmed-up we were; I had to ask the powers-that-be for some AC! And I was already practically naked! All the men around me took off their jackets, and some women even took to using fans! I love this theatre, but they need a new temperature monitor!) Not that an “opening act” was necessary—the show was great on its own.

Being the cultured gal-around-town that I am, of course I had seen Kiss Me Kate, one of the classic musicals, before in my life, probably several times. But this time was different; being part of the theatre’s Diversity Program, it was an almost all-black cast. They did one subtle nod to that situation, that I don’t know if many others noticed. The action takes place in 1948, when things were very different. So, when the show-within-the-show aspect kicked in, with the cast playing actors doing a Shakespeare play, the sign that trumpeted The Taming of the Shrew, said at the top “American Negro Theatre Presents…” Very clever.

The musical itself is wonderful; it’s a smartly written story with lots of built-in humor and great classic tunes. It is a tad dated, but still holds-up beautifully.

And that’s just how this cast performed it—beautifully! We audience members were treated to much laughter, which seems to be just what many of us needed right about now. Even my very serious “date” was chuckling! I’ve rarely heard that from him, and we’ve been friends for years!

The star is Wayne Brady, whom I’m sure everyone is familiar with. The weird thing is that I feel like I’ve seen him on TV many times, especially because I already knew how well he sings. But, when going over his credits after the show, I realized that I haven’t seen more than a minute of any of them! So, he must have made some big impression on me in those few moments for me to be so aware of his talents.

And I was correct—he sings great. I love his voice! One thing I hadn’t realized about him is that, from the side, he’s a dead-ringer for the late, great, Sammy Davis, Jr! I was a frequent guest at Sammy’s house back in the day, and now that I’ve seen them both in person, I can totally see the resemblance! (Wayne’s probably played Sammy in the past, so, if I’m correct about that, please forgive me for not knowing.)

Every single person in this show is talented, and did the script and score proud, but the absolute showstopper was Joanna A. Jones‘ rendition of Always True To You In My Fashion. She performed it to perfection, and brought the house down!

So, to sum up, this show has fun writing, live music, lots of laughs and charm, excellent dancing, (especially from ensemble member Theresa Murray, who did herself proud,) a bona fide star in Wayne Brady, and beautiful singing from…everyone! The show flew by! (Which is a real pleasure in theatre today, trust me.) I never once checked-out the time.

So, then we were on to the Theatrical Diversity Project Gala, which took place at new-ish Old Town eatery Picnik. Upon researching the place when I got home, I found-out that they’re known for mainly their sausages! So, I thought it was extra-kind of them to provide lots of vegetarian dishes at this soiree.

There were four food stations: the obligatory sausage one; a veg one with cold mediterranean dishes such as orzo, pasta salad dressed with mustard, pizza bites, and crudite; a fun one with fresh grilled cheese mini-sandwiches and–a twist on the tomato soup often served with them—gazpacho, for the warm night; and, of course, a dessert one with tiny tarts and specialty coffees. What more could one want?!

Guests could sit inside, near the two main buffets, or outside on the fire-pitted patio. We chose that one because there was also a band. (Alas, I didn’t realize that anyone was going to dance later, or I would have stayed longer; I was rushing home to write this!!!)

After all this fabulosity, I ended the evening in the perfect way–I hung with fellow guest Adam Lambert for awhile, regaling him with tales (for the umpteenth time,) of how much I love him! My favorite part was telling something about the first two times I ever heard him sing, and him saying, “Hmm, I think you got the order wrong.” And I did not! No one can challenge my memory! So, I broke it down for him, and he realized that I was (probably) right. Or he was just being polite. But, I bet he went home and looked up those dates and saw that I was, indeed, correct. Yay, me!

The one bummer for me was, that when I got home and told Mr. X about the whole shebang, he made me realize that I forgot to take a picture with Adam!!! And I even looked good. For me. Adam, of course, is still the best dresser on the planet, so he’s camera-ready always. And, seriously, he was perhaps even more gorgeous than usual! I thought he had gotten thinner, but he showed me that his fabulous gold sort-of wing-tips had about a two-inch sole on them, and I was in the flattest of flats, so perhaps my perspective was a tad skewed.

Now, even if the night you attend Kiss Me, Kate at the Playhouse is without audience celebs, I highly recommend it. And, at least you get to see a big one, in Wayne Brady, right up there on stage in front of you. Enjoy! I know you will.

Kiss Me, Kate running through October 12, 2014
Pasadena Playhouse 39 South El Molino Ave. Pasadena 626-356-7529 www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org