Kiss Me, Kate!

    I have to say I was kind of excited to see Kiss Me, Kate. I did not know it was a musical, but I knew it was a play and I thought it was something different for an English class to experience. The most recent live theater performance I've been to, that I can think of, was a musical production of High School Musical at my high school. In comparison to this, Kiss Me, Kate was much better. Maybe because this is a university and it has more money to give to its productions. In my opinion, the acting was better, the singing was in tune, and it kept me on my feet at every point of the play. This play was not what I expected it to be at all. I thought it was interesting that we were going to see a play, but I also thought it was going to be boring with actors who thought a little too highly of themselves. This production definitely proved me wrong.
    I love the musical-theater genre. It is full of catchy songs and smiling faces. I love to watch regular plays, but I love watching musical theater more because it's so entertaining. I've seen many musicals, on TV, but I'd have to say that Grease and The Sound of Music are my favorites. When comparing all of these, I don't think Kiss Me Kate stands a chance. These musicals are classics and no one will ever forget them. They have songs that people are always singing, whether they are in commercials or in other movies. They even have sequels and remakes. Kiss Me, Kate was a great production, but unfortunately, it doesn't measure up to Grease or The Sound of Music in any way, shape, or form.
    During my senior year of high school, we read and watched Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. We read the play first and I loved it. It was something that I could keep up with and, when I was reading it, I didn't want to put it down. I couldn't wait to see how someone portrayed it in a movie. We watched the version with Elizabeth Taylor and I have to say that it's one of my favorite movies of all time. Seeing and reading it did increase my appreciation of the plot. I think I respected it more because I knew it was a classic. I loved the fact that they took an old play by Shakespeare and put a twist on it to make it their own.
    My favorite parts of this experience were the many different facets of the actual play. First, I did not expect for it to be as funny as it was. I found myself dying of laughter as the show progressed. Another thing I liked was how it was a play within a play. Judging by the title and by flipping through the program, I thought it was going to be a strict remake of The Taming of the Shrew, but they incorporated the play into the dramatic lives of actors and actresses trying to put on a production. Overall, I enjoyed this experience. It had to be one of my favorites.