“Another Op’nin’, Another Show”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Kaye E. Brown, Company

“Why Can’t You Behave?”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Nancy Anderson, Michael Berresse

“Wunderbar”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Brent Barrett, Rachel York

“So in Love”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Rachel York

“We Open in Venice”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Brent Barrett, Rachel York, Nancy Anderson, Michael Berresse

“Tom, Dick or Harry”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Nancy Anderson, Michael Berresse, Nick Winston, Barry McNeill

“I’ve Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Brent Barrett

“I Hate Men”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Rachel York

“Were Thine That Special Face”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Brent Barrett

“Cantiamo d’Amore” (”We Sing of Love”)
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Ensemble

“Kiss Me, Kate”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Brent Barrett, Rachel York, Ensemble

“Too Darn Hot”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Nolan Frederick, Ensemble

“Where Is the Life That Late I Led?”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Brent Barrett

“Always True to You in My Fashion”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Nancy Anderson

“From This Moment On”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Nicolas Colicos, Rachel York

“Bianca”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Michael Berresse, Ensemble

“So in Love” (Reprise)
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Brent Barrett

“Brush Up Your Shakespeare”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Teddy Kempner, Jack Chissick

“Pavane”
Music by Cole Porter
Nancy Anderson, Michael Berresse, Ensemble

“I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple”
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Rachel York

“Kiss Me, Kate” (Finale)
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Company

Cole Porter’s 1948 score was his major effort at an “integrated” musical in the wake of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel.” So the story hangs together and the songs all have their place. But here is the achievement of Blakemore and his team: they go beyond that, so the breadth of Porter’s musical genius — the vaudeville, jazz, operatic lyricism, and comic patter — seems a natural expression of the drama, much more so, certainly, than it does in the 1953 film version.

Michael Blakemore deservedly won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Director (Musical Revival) for “Kiss Me, Kate.” In fact, he won a second Tony for directing the straight play by Michael Frayn, “Copenhagen.” This unprecedented double triumph alerted all Broadway to the talents of the 72-year-old Australian-born British resident whose career has included directing plays by Arthur Miller, Anton Chekhov, and Peter Shaffer.

The range of his interests is reflected in this double whammy, at the helm of the revival of one of America’s greatest musicals and the intellectually challenging Michael Frayn play about nuclear physicists and the uncertainty principle. In fact, Blakemore nearly achieved a similar same-season feat ten years earlier, when he was nominated for the Tony for directing both “City of Angels,” a brilliantly clever new thriller musical, and Maggie Smith in Peter Shaffer’s “Lettice and Lovage.”

Blakemore started out as an actor and was a star associate during Laurence Olivier’s reign at the National Theatre in London, where he directed Olivier in an unforgettable production of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” Since then, he has directed six plays by Michael Frayn and several films, and memorialized a vanished era of English repertory theater in a classic theatrical novel, NEXT SEASON.

So this serious, cultivated man — he was the son of an eye surgeon and enrolled in medical school before sitting guiltily in cinemas and discovering his true passion — has the acting life embedded in his character. Which is why, no doubt, he produced such a definitive version of “Kiss Me, Kate.”

A great Broadway show was restored and the compliment was returned in the bestowing of the Tony Award. At the ceremony in Radio City Music Hall, Blakemore simply said, “All I can say is, thank you, America. And when I say ‘America,’ of course, I mean New York. And when I say ‘New York,’ I mean Broadway.”

Later, he expressed surprise that anyone should think that directing a musical is a less serious business than directing a play: “You simply try to understand the material and tell the story in the terms the musical demands.” The added bonus of a show like “Kiss Me, Kate” is that there are huge technical challenges, which, if met, ensure a spectacular treat alongside the emotional pleasure. And that’s what Mr. Blakemore has provided, to resounding, unforgettable effect.

–Michael Coveney

The first Broadway revival in nearly 50 years of the musical comedy masterpiece by composer Cole Porter and authors Sam and Bella Spewack not only enchanted critics and delighted audiences, but also went on to triumph as one of the biggest prize-winners of the 2000 season. Taking its inspiration from Shakespeare, “Kiss Me, Kate” recounts the backstage and onstage antics of two feuding romantic couples during a touring production 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” — “Kiss Me, Kate” epitomizes the Broadway musical comedy at its irresistible best. Directed by Michael Blakemore, this 2000 Tony-winner for Best Revival stars Brent Barrett, Rachel York, Nancy Anderson, and Michael Berresse as the bickering couples whose offstage disputes ultimately entangle them with a pair of unexpectedly erudite gangsters and a megalomaniacal U.S. Army general.

Cole Porter’s most successful musical, the original production of “Kiss Me, Kate” opened on Broadway at the New Century Theatre on December 30, 1948 and ran for 1,077 performances. It garnered five Tony Awards in 1949, the same number the revival claimed in 2000. Learn more about the revival, which was taped during its run at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre, and its celebrated director, Michael Blakemore, in an essay by writer Michael Coveney. Read an extensive biography of Cole Porter as well as many other American composers and songwriters whose music is featured this season on GREAT PERFORMANCES in the Encyclopedia of Composers & Songwriters; browse the Q&A with Professor Thomas Hischak, author of numerous books on American film and stage musicals, in Ask the Expert; and watch extended video excerpts from the program in the Video Jukebox. Lastly, see the complete list of songs and photos from the production in the “Kiss Me, Kate” Slideshow.

Special funding for this program was provided by the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust and the Irene Diamond Fund.

The “KISS ME, KATE” DVD can be purchased from Shop Thirteen.