Cole Porter’s ‘Kiss Me, Kate‘ has stood the test of time.
Currently running through Quintessence at the Sedgwick Theater in Mt. Airy, Porter’s 1948 ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ ran for over 1,000 performances on Broadway, won the first Tony Award for Best Musical, and was turned into an MGM film musical five-years later. Several of Porter’s original tunes from ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ immediately became standards of the Great American Songbook, such as “So in Love,” “Too Darn Hot” and “From This Moment On.”
Quintessence Theatre artistic director Alexander Burns and actor-vocalists Jennie Eisenhower and Renee McFillin know well the thrill of ‘Kiss Me, Kate.’
“Oh man, since I was a little kid, Cole Porter’s lyrics are what attracted me to his work — the way he turned a phrase or told jokes within each line, but also revealed the inner nature, the psychology of each character,” says Burns. “Cole Porter made musical theater into a form of American opera with such complex characters singing such great, complicated songs. He pulled it off.”
Philadelphia theater veterans Eisenhower and McFillin have each performed the jazzily complex and cosmopolitan melodies and smartly sarcastic lyrics of Porter in their collective past.
“I had the fortune of performing the ‘Red, Hot & Cole Porter’ revue years ago, where everyone of his songs have lived in my bones ever since,” says Eisenhower. “And ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ is the pinnacle of what he’s done.”
“I did a Cole Porter revue last Christmas, and his work is genius,” McFillin adds. “His double entendres and his being sexual and hilarious was ahead of his time. That he took Shakespeare’s words and made them into modern songs was amazing.”
Artistic director Burns – who fills his Mt. Airy company’s yearly seasons with the works of William Shakespeare such as 2025’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ and ‘A Midsummers Night Dream‘ – is in love with connecting the dots between ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ and its origin story of Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.
“We cherish having Shakespeare as a resident playwright at Quintessence, which we do throughout this season, and we enjoy having a holiday musical where all generations can come,” he says. “The idea of telling the funny, complex story of ‘Taming of the Shrew’ while putting it in the context of American musical theater felt timely and exciting.”
A brilliant testament to Quintessence Theatre’s prowess in staging Porter’s works—especially ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ with its humorously tangled romantic dynamics—is their ability to bring energy and flair to the production. This is particularly notable given that Porter’s lively, jazzy songs are often not arranged or performed with the swing and sophistication they deserve. His sharp, argumentative lyrics and melodies were crafted in harmony with the spirited book by the famously combative married duo, Bella and Samuel Spewack.
With that, Quintessence music director Tom Fosnocht spikes Porter’s magically intense ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ song selection with elements of jazz and big band arrangements. On top of all that, Quintessence director and choreographer Todd Underwood keeps ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ contemporary and fresh in its tale of backstage antics and personal (usually sexual) politics.
“Every time you take a musical theater classic and place it in a contemporary setting, there is room for invention because we’re all bringing our individual experience to bear on the production,” says Eisenhower. “I think that ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ is a fascinating musical to do in this current political environment with the age-old question of what women do, and don’t get to do, with their bodies. That’s a truly forward part of the conversation, now, more than ever.”
“Also, this production takes what is a usually 35-person cast down to far-fewer with each of us playing two-or-more roles,” adds McFillin of the intimacy of Quintessence Theatre’s aesthetics. “That’s a beautiful, amazing, intricate thing – as if we’re working inside of a clock. You’ll have to see ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ for yourself to see how we all work as one.”
‘Kiss Me, Kate’ tin on stage at The Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave., now through Jan. 5, 2025. For information and tickets, visit quintessencetheatre.org/kissmekate
