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Kelli O'Hara to star in Kiss Me Kate on Broadway
Kelli O'Hara to star in Kiss Me Kate on Broadway

Kelli O’Hara to Star in Roundabout Revival of Kiss Me, Kate

Kiss Me, Kate, the time-honored musical masterpiece from composer Cole Porter and librettists Sam and Bella Spewack, will return to Broadway in the spring of 2019. The production, which will be directed by Scott Ellis and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, will receive a limited-engagement revival opening March 14, 2019, and running through June 2, 2019, at Studio 54. The production is produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company.

The production will star Tony-winner Kelli O’Hara in the role of Lilli Vanessi, the tempestuous diva who is set to star in a musical version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew co-starring and directed by her ex-husband Fred Graham. Life begins to imitate art when the two reexamine their passionate feelings for each other and a fiery battle of the wills unfolds. The role of Fred Graham has not-yet been cast.

The creative team includes David Rockwell (Sets), Jeff Mahshie (Costumes), Donald Holder (Lighting), Brian Ronan (Sound), and David Brian Brown (Hair & Wig design). Additional cast and creative staff will be announced at a later date.

Kiss Me, Kate is chock-full of Cole Porter standards including “So In Love,” “Wunderbar,” “Too Darn Hot,” “Where is the Life That Late I Led?”, “Always True to You (in My Fashion),” and the show-stopping “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.” Kiss Me, Kate was the first musical to win the Tony Award for Best Musical (1949).

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals and maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.

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