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Kiss Me Kate (Broadway Revival - PBS Great Performances) | 
| Director: Chris Hunt
Actors: Brent Barrett, Rachel York, Nancy Kathryn Anderson, Michael Berresse, Nicholas Colicos
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $10.99
You Save: $14.00 (56%)
New (30) Used (9) Collectible (1) from $10.99
Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 9794
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 147 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 0180
UPC: 014381018028
EAN: 0014381018028
ASIN: B00008NFR6
Theatrical Release Date: February 26, 2003
Release Date: May 13, 2003
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Cole Porter's masterwork Kiss Me, Kate was revived in a splashy production that played on Broadway in 1999 then in London, where this version was filmed in front of a live audience in 2002. Broadway veterans Brent Barrett and Rachel York play pompous Fred Graham and feisty Lilli Vanessi, respectively, the couple whose roles in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew mirror their offstage feud. The play-within-a-play format is reflected in a score that has both contemporary '50s songs ("Too Darn Hot") and Bard-inspired stage songs ("I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua"). Other songs such as "Wunderbar," "So in Love," "Why Can't You Behave?," "Always True to You (In My Fashion)," and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" are among Porter's best-loved melodies and wittiest lyrics. Nancy Anderson and Michael Berresse (the lone principal still remaining from the Broadway revival cast) sing and dance up a storm as the secondary couple Lois and Bill, and Teddy Kempner and Jack Chissick steal scenes as the gangsters. Recommended for fans of musicals, though it's not the most family-friendly choice due to gender conflicts and stereotyping. --David Horiuchi
Description
The first Broadway revival in nearly 50 years of the musical comedy masterpiece by composer Cole Porter and book writers Sam and Bella Spewack not only enchanted critics and delighted audiences, but went on to triumph as one of the biggest prize winners of the 2000 season. Taking its inspiration from Shakespeare, this hilarious romp recounts the backstage and on-stage antics of two feuding romances during an out-of-town tryout for a musical adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Sparkling with 18 classic Cole Porter songs including "Another Op'nin', Another Show," "Wunderbar," "So in Love," "Always True to You in My Fashion," "Too Darn Hot," and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" this is Broadway musical comedy at its irresistible best. Directed by Michael Blakemore, this Tony winner for "Best Revival" stars Brent Barrett, Rachel York (Victor/Victoria), Nancy Anderson and Michael Berresse as the squabbling couples whose offstage disputes entangle them with a pair of song-and-dance gangsters and a pompous U.S. army general.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
 Love Marin and Brian together! May 12, 2008
Lois S. Key
I had the good fortune to see the production on Broadway! Fabulous. Love the two of them together. You will love the performance. I also saw them in "Ragtime" together on Broadway. What extradinary voices they both have. Together they are dynamite!!!!
Kiss Me Kate" Broadway Revival December 22, 2007
George Arnold
This play is top rate. Although I didn't like the General he was too broad and the song he sang, I do not think was in the original score.
Another Opening, another show January 10, 2007
L. Wakeman (San Francisco Bay Area)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I remember seeing Alfred Drake ant Patrice Munsel in this show as a young child. I also have the Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson Movie version from 1953 and though I love that version, this one feels better to me. It is a well produced video of a live production of the latest revival of this delightful production. Brent Barrett plays Graham/Petruchio with just the right amount of acerbic wit, Rachel York is a delightful Lilli Vanessi/Kate and the chemistry betwen the two of them is fantastic. Teh rest of the cast is supurb.
 Flat and mostly overacted April 21, 2006
WL Jones (North Carolina)
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
I had higher expectations when I purchased this DVD.
I was not disappointed technically but I was EXTREMELY disappointed with the acting as a whole and with the uneven singing of Rachel York. She couldn't seem to decide whether she wanted a pop, jazz, or traditional musical theatre sound. Her voice was all over the place. Furthermore, I found her character very annoying...she was screechy and not at all vunerable. I preferred Kathryn Grayson's performance in the movie as she managed to be vunerable, witty, and charming, as well as screechy, demanding, and somewhat tyrannical. Truly, I could barely watch this entire video and at the end I could have cared less if Fred and Lilli got together. I think that was the most powerful statement for me.
The production was acted (or directed) with a lot of mugging and so much of it was over the top. Can today's directors PLEASE leave something for the audience to think about and figure out themselves? Everything need not be a commentary!
I wish I had seen Marin Mazzie because I heard she was incredible. Rent this before buying it or better yet do what I did and buy it used. It hardly cost anything and that is what is it worth.
Amazingly well done March 9, 2006
Jeremy M. Zeidner (San Bernardino, CA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I first watched this performance on PBS Great Performances. It is amazing. I'm very happy to finally find a complete version of the stage show on DVD. Rachel York does a top-notch performance in the leading role. The rest of the cast is up to par. There have been other reviews that say the music is dated, or other such nonsense, but do not pay heed to them. Premiered in 1948, the musical is based on The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare), and the music and lyrics are done by Cole Porter. Sometimes referred to as his masterpiece (which I agree with), the production never drags or disappoints. The lyrics are extremely witty (a trademark of Porter). The music keeps you humming along for days.
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