Kiss Me, Kate (Critical Edition)

A TAMS-WITMARK TITLE

Kiss Me, Kate (Critical Edition)

Full-Length Musical, Comedy  /  3w, 7m

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Sam and Bella Spewack
Critical Edition by David Charles Abell and Seann Alderking

The battle of the sexes takes center stage as former spouses feud onstage and off during a musical presentation of The Taming of the Shrew. Sophisticated, romantic and delightfully hilarious, Kiss Me, Kate boasts a sparkling Cole Porter score and a brilliant book from Sam and Bella Spewack.

Image: 2019 Roundabout Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

Kiss Me, Kate (Critical Edition)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptation (Shakespeare), Period, Romantic Comedy
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for All Audiences
Accolades
Accolades
  • First recipient of the Tony Award for Best Musical
    Winner! Five 1949 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Script and Best Score
    Winner! Five 2000 Tony Awards, including Best Revival and Best Orchestrations
    Winner! Six 2000 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Revival and Orchestrations
    Nominee: Four 2019 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival
    Winner! 2019 Drama League Award, Outstanding Revival of a Musical

Details

Summary

Cole Porter's classic 1948 show, Kiss Me, Kate, is one of the jewels in Broadway's crown and it is now available for rent in a Critical Edition, edited by David Charles Abell and Seann Alderking. The Critical Edition includes an orchestral score, piano/vocal score, and orchestra parts, all newly engraved to the highest standards. In addition to the complete show (the original Broadway script from 1948), this edition provides alternate keys and dance routines in an appendix and contains a wealth of explanatory notes and other documentation, which are an invaluable new resource for scholars and theatre professionals.

Professional Artwork Available for Your Production of Kiss Me, Kate!
Concord Theatricals has collaborated with Subplot Studio to create high-quality artwork that complies with your license. Promoting your show has never been easier! Learn more at Subplot Studio.



History
Kiss Me, Kate opened on Broadway on December 30, 1948 at the New Century Theatre, starring Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang. The show transferred to the Shubert Theatre and ran for a total of 1,077 performances. A London production opened on March 8, 1951 and ran for 400 performances at the Coliseum Theatre. The original cast album issued in 1948 by Columbia Records was the very first Broadway cast recording to be issued on LP. And in 1949, Kiss Me, Kate won the very first Tony Award for Best Musical. In 1999, a revised version of the show was revived on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre, starring Marin Mazzie and Brian Stokes Mitchell. The production was extremely well recieved, and played for 881 performances. The 1999 revival at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London played for about 300 performances, starring Marin Mazzie and Brent Barrett. In 2018, the Roundabout Theatre Company presented a newly revised version of Kiss Me, Kate starring Kelli O'Hara and Will Chase. The critically acclaimed revival ran through June 30, 2019.
  • Time Period 1940s/WWII, 16th Century/Elizabethan
  • Setting A theatre in Baltimore, 1948 (and Padua, Italy during the Renaissance).
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Stage Combat
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)

Media

“Utterly, deliriously fun!” – Davi Cote, Observer

“The crowning achievement of Cole Porter’s long and celebrated career on Broadway, Kiss Me, Kate is a valentine to stage folk, a love letter in song linking Shakespeare and showbiz.” – Charles Isherwood, Variety

“You have only to listen to Porter’s score — a swoon-worthy progression of deftly shifting rhythms and sophisticated rhymes and musical motifs — to understand the show’s timeless charm.” – Peter Marks, The Washington Post

“It’s a pleasure to roar at suffering that is big and fake and somebody else’s. Kiss Me, Kate is cleverly constructed to provide that pleasure squared... Porter’s score remains an astonishing encyclopedia of musical comedy style.” – Jesse Green, The New York Times

“I hardly need to extol the smutty, nutty, indelible Porter score, with heaven-sent numbers such as ‘Too Darn Hot,’ ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’ and that deathless show-folk anthem, ‘Another Op’nin’, Another Show.’” – Davi Cote, Observer

“Cole Porter's knockout score [features] such gems as ‘Another Op'nin,' Another Show,’ ‘So In Love,’ and that great second act opener, ‘Too Darn Hot,’ which sets the place on fire!” – Roma Torre, NY1

“Cole Porter's sybarite's delight of a musical... broad, brazen, often shameless and finally irresistible... Kiss Me, Kate asserts that there is still a place for sophisticated, grown-up fun in the New York theater.” – Ben Brantley, The New York Times

Videos

  • Kiss Me, Kate - 2019 Broadway youtube thumbnail

    Kiss Me, Kate - 2019 Broadway

  • "Too Darn Hot" 2019 Tony Awards youtube thumbnail

    "Too Darn Hot" 2019 Tony Awards

  • "Bianca" youtube thumbnail

    "Bianca"

  • "Tom, Dick or Harry" youtube thumbnail

    "Tom, Dick or Harry"

  • "So In Love" youtube thumbnail

    "So In Love"

  • Kiss Me, Kate - Movie Trailer youtube thumbnail

    Kiss Me, Kate - Movie Trailer

Show more +

Photos

  • Kiss Me, Kate (Critical Edition)

    Image: 2019 Roundabout Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

  • Kiss Me, Kate (Critical Edition)

    Image: 2019 Roundabout Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)

Music

  • Musical Style Classic Broadway
  • Dance Requirements Moderate
  • Vocal DemandsModerate
  • Orchestra Size Large
  • Chorus Size Large

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

    PLEASE BE ADVISED: There are multiple versions of this title. Before you proceed, please double-check to ensure that you are applying for the version you want. We will not be able to refund rental or shipping fees if you pay for the wrong version. If you’re not sure which version best suits your needs, you may purchase a perusal for each available version.

Music Rentals

Concord offers a full suite of resources to help you put on the show of a lifetime!

Add-Ons

Take a look below at how you can enhance your show!

Authors

Cole Porter

Cole Porter

Cole Porter was born in Peru, Indiana in 1891 and died in Hollywood 73 years later. In between, he wrote some of the most memorable songs ever heard on stage or screen, among them “Night and Day,” “Begin the Beguine,” “You’re The Top,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Love For Sal ...

View full profile
Samuel Spewack

Samuel Spewack

Samuel Spewack (1899-1971) and Bella Spewack (1899-1990) met while working as journalists and married in 1922. Bella’s youth was chronicled in Streets: A Memoir of the Lower East Side (1995, Feminist Press). Their first play, Solitaire Man, premiered in 1926. Clear All Wires ...

View full profile
Bella Spewack

Bella Spewack

Bella Spewack (1899-1990) and Samuel Spewack (1899-1971) met while working as journalists and married in 1922. Bella’s youth was chronicled in Streets: A Memoir of the Lower East Side (1995, Feminist Press). Their first play, Solitaire Man, premiered in 1926. Clear All Wires ...

View full profile
Author

David Charles Abell

Author

Seann Alderking

Now Playing

Related