"The authors’ take on marriage is more complex and insightful than we may recall. And where they did wander into material now rightly seen as toxic, a few changes and one major revision allow us to enjoy it in a new light...Carlyle’s often thrilling choreography offers a bountiful assortment...That too many other numbers disappoint is a problem not just with the choreography but also with the overall staging, which by the middle of the second act seems to run out of invention."
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"In this production, the drama and fire are downplayed. O’Hara’s full and clear soprano is as beautiful as always, but her Lilli is more whimper than bang...Without such changes, however, 'Kiss Me, Kate' might not be revivable at all—and that would be a shame, since the Roundabout’s production is often a delight. For one thing, it affords an opportunity to rehear Porter’s score. And whatever heat has been tamped down in the central couple flares up elsewhere in Scott Ellis’s staging."
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"The majestic Kelli O’Hara’s honey volcano of a voice pours out with seemingly zero effort, and you can almost see smoke rising from the heels of the gazellelike ensemble as they tear through Warren Carlyle’s splashy golden-age choreography...The sad truth — sad at least for a longtime lover of Porter’s songs — is that for all its pizzazz, 'Kiss Me, Kate' itself feels irretrievably dated...Its adjustments are both good, arguably downright necessary ideas, and not really show-savers."
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"'Kiss Me, Kate' is bland and unimaginative. Not only is Ms. O’Hara miscast—she is as warm and friendly as Kate is sharp-witted and spiky—but she and Mr. Chase have all the romantic chemistry of a pair of squabbling siblings. As for Mr. Ellis’s staging, it looks as though he’d put the show together while thinking about something else (which he may well have been, seeing as how he’s also directing 'Tootsie,' which opens on Broadway next month)."
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"Whatever occasional shortcomings befall this mostly terrific revival, a spanked, put-upon heroine isn’t one. Kelli O’Hara and Will Chase are so evenly matched – in performance, talent and temperament – that it’s hard to imagine a more finely balanced battle de deux...For me, the production takes full flight with 'I Hate Men,' about midway through the first act, when O’Hara delivers a full throated and beautifully arch takedown of what later generations would simply call patriarchy."
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"A very pleasurable and inclusive evening in the company of a plethora of seasoned professionals...If O’Hara gets to dominate the opener, then Carlyle’s truly talented ensemble has all the focus in 'Too Darn Hot,' which is given a gorgeous narrative treatment...The revival’s weakness, I think, is a lack of comfort with improvisational possibility. But I’ve never been more moved by this title."
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"The clever navigation of this Golden Age musical through today’s waters of gender politics is one of several plusses in an otherwise uneven production that is still able to score some highs in terrific dancing, Kelli O’Hara’s performance and, oh, those Porter songs...What keeps audiences continually engaged are Porter’s songs, which show off an impressive range of standards and styles...Still filled with musical pleasures that audiences will appreciate — now without wincing, after a fashion."
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"Even in an imperfectly cast revival like the new Roundabout production, it's virtually impossible not to surrender to its boisterous charms...If the changes dampen some of the show's comedic vitality in order to make it palatable to contemporary sensibilities, so be it. There are corresponding losses and gains, too, in O'Hara's performance...But this is an immensely pleasurable show even in a production that occasionally lacks spark."
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