The cast has been announced for the return of Opera North’s award-winning touring production of Cole Porter’s classic musical comedy, Kiss Me, Kate, which comes to The Festival Theatre from 4-7 July 2018.
Cole Porter’s riotously inventive homage to the sparkling wit of Shakespeare, Kiss Me, Kate is an irresistible celebration of the joy and madness of working in theatre.
On the opening night of a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew in 1940s Baltimore, the tempestuous love lives of actor-manager Fred Graham and his leading lady (and ex-wife) Lilli Vanessi are set to collide.
Throw in Fred’s current paramour Lois Lane and her gambler boyfriend Bill – plus a couple of gun-toting gangsters who somehow get caught up in the show – and the stage is set for a funny and farcical battle of the sexes!
Stephanie Corley joins the cast of Kiss Me, Kate for the first time, in the role of Lilli Vanessi/ Kate. Stephanie has previously sung the title role in Opera North’s The Merry Widow, and has most recently played Tina in Jonathan Dove’s Flight at Scottish Opera.
In a role which he made his own in the original 2015 production, Quirijn de Lang is back as Lilli’s ex-husband and tormentor-in chief, Fred Graham/Petruchio. His many recent roles at Opera North include Sam in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro.
Includes many of Cole Porter’s greatest hits, including – ‘Another Op’nin, Another Show,’ ‘So In Love, Always True to You (In My Own Fashion)’ and ‘Too Darn Hot.’
