Casting is complete for Broadway at Music Circus' upcoming production of the Cole Porter classic Kiss Me, Kate, which will be presented July 12-17 at the UC Davis Health Pavilion in downtown Sacramento.
Glenn Casale will direct with choreography by John MacInnis and musical direction by Darryl Archibald.
Leading the production will be Chris Hoch (War Paint) as Fred Graham, Kristen Beth Williams (Paradise Square) as Lilli Vanessi, Emma Degerstedt (Desperate Measures) as Lois Lane, Michael Starr (Bright Star) as Bill Calhoun, Jennifer Leigh Warren (Marie Christine) as Hattie, Dana Orange (Shrek the Musical) as Paul, Stuart Marland (Xanadu) as Underling, Carlos Lopez (Man of La Mancha) as First Man, Ron Wisniski ( Beauty and the Beast) as Second Man, and Mark Campbell (Perfect Crime) as Harrison Howell.
The ensemble comprises Whitney Cooper, Rachael Britton Hart, Laura Sky Herman, Rose Iannaccone, Akina Kitazawa, Jimin Moon, Kenneth Michael Murray, Cole Newburg, Elyse Niederee, Dennis O’Bannion, Trevor Michael Schmidt, Audrey Biehl Simmons, Omari Tau, and Cayel Tregeagle.
The creative team also features music supervisor Dennis Castellano, production stage manager Craig A. Horness, properties designer Alyssa Tryon, hair, wig, and makeup designer Christine Conklin, sound designer Joe Caruso, Jr., projection designer Brian McMullen, lighting designer Charlie Morrison, costume designer Marcy Froehlich, and scenic designer Christian Johnson.
Loosely based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, Kiss Me, Kate originally opened at Broadway's New Century Theatre December 30, 1948. Featuring a score by Porter and a book by Samuel and Bella Spewack, Kate ran 1,077 performances. The original cast included Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk, and Harold Lang. The score includes such tunes as "Another Op'nin', Another Show," "Too Darn Hot," "Wunderbar," "So in Love," "Always True to You in My Fashion," "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," "Why Can't You Behave?," "We Open in Venice," "Tom, Dick or Harry," "I Hate Men," and "Where Is the Life That Late I Led?"
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