54 Below Sings Kiss Me, Kate
54 Below Sings Kiss Me, Kate
Feinstein’s/54 Below, NYC, January 7, 2016
Reviewed by Marilyn Lester for Cabaret Scenes
Robert Cuccioli & Lesli Margherita
Photo: Maryann Lopinto
The 1948 musical within a musical Kiss Me, Kate was understandably the most successful of Cole Porter’s Broadway shows. With its parallel stories of actors performing Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Kiss Me, Kate has a clever book and great songs with brilliant lyrics. It’s an immensely funny and fun show – and that’s exactly how it was played in this neatly-executed mini-version, produced, directed and hosted by Scott Siegel. In distilling a major Broadway show into a short concert form, Siegel made smart choices: cutting two minor songs —“Bianca” and “We Sing of Love” (“Cantiamo d’Amore””)– and voicing a cogent, concise narrative between musical number.
“Another Op’nin’, Another Show,” performed by the entire cast, was a powerhouse of an opener, packing a big punch on a tiny stage. The company also shone later with a high-spirited “We Open in Venice.” Theatrically-trained cabaret favorite Carole J. Bufford soloed on “Why Can’t You Behave?,” sung to the insanely talented Danny Gardner (a triple threat with fierce tap-dance chops), as well as the playful “Always True to You in My Fashion” and “Tom, Dick or Harry” (with Jeff Raab, Adam Yankowy and Jacob Pressler). Gardner – a performer we want to see more of – danced, sang and generally “wowed” on “Too Darn Hot.” Another “wow” moment came with the gut-busting rendition of “Brush Up Your Shakespeare;” “gangsters” Carlos Lopez and Michael Dean Morgan delivered sublime comic perfection.
The two larger-than-life theatricals portrayed in Kiss Me, Kate were admirably handled by Robert Cuccioli and Lesli Margherita. Their duet of “Wunderbar” was a pastiche à la Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, while Margherita later duetted with Bob Stillman in an energetic “From This Moment On” (not in the original stage score, but added to the film version). Versatile actress Margherita proved she can sing (“So in Love”), she can mug (“I Hate Men”), and she can be ironic (“I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple”). As Kiss Me, Kate’s leading man, Cuccioli’s rich baritone was impressive on “Were Thine That Special Face” and a reprise of “So in Love.” His ability to handle comedy:”I’ve Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua” (with Rick Hinkson, Christopher Hlinka, Jeff Raab, Jacob Pressley and Adam Yankowy) and “Where Is the Life That Late I Led?” demonstrated why the actor is always much in demand.
The “orchestra” was Kiss Me, Kate’s hard-working piano man, Music Director Ross Patterson. The Broadway by the Year Chorus –the aforementioned Hinkson, Hlinka, Raab, Pressley, plus Harriet Taylor, Christina Aranda, and Samantha Owen – bookended on the opening number and the finale of “Kiss Me, Kate” and encore reprise of “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
