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By
BILL CONIFF
This DVD of the London
production of "Kiss Me Kate" is not an entirely
successful video capture of the stage musical. But
it does offer enjoyment, and any musical-theater
fan should add it to his/her collection.
First, the pluses. Let's start with Rachel York.
She's a joy and a vocal marvel. Just as good in a
different way and loads of fun is Nancy Anderson.
Brent Barrett is charming and he sings well,
although sometimes I wish the effort were less
apparent and his vocal production were freer.
After that, there's really no one worth pointing
out, and some, in fact, don't seem of
Broadway-stage quality.
Although this production won a Tony for "Best
Revival," I have hard time seeing why. Perhaps I'm
too fond of the movie, which zips along nicely and
has spectacular dance numbers (Tommy Rall, in
particular, is amazing). The stage version has
less creativity, dancing that is much less
impressive, and some a-tad-too-long numbers
(forgive me, Cole Porter). It is a benefit to get
the uncensored versions of Porter's lyrics,
though.
Although the sound on the DVD is fine, one very
annoying feature is that the audience response is
handled differently throughout. My sense is that
they were trying to emphasize the
show-within-a-show aspect by technically
diminishing the audience response in the backstage
segments. Perhaps it was a noble experiment, but
in the end it failed. We know the whole thing is a
show, and the audience response should have been
heard consistently from start to finish.
Also making this DVD a lost opportunity is the
total lack of extras. You don't even get bios on
the cast.
So, to sum up: If you collect live musical theater
and want to encourage more filming of similar
performances, buy this DVD. The three leads I
mentioned above will make it worth your while. But
I'd also buy the film version, also on DVD.
Although I'd take Ward and Barrett in a heartbeat
over Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel, the movie
has not-to-be-missed dancing (the groundbreaking
Bob Fosse and the stunning Ann Miller -- in the
same film!). |
