A Small Mind At The Theatre

A theatre shrouded in trees on the estate of a house with landscaped, picnic and woodland areas is a tremendous boost to anyone putting on a show and Kiss Me Kate from director Matthew White lives up to the wonder of its location. Kiss Me Kate based on a book by Sam and Bella Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter is itself based upon Shakespeare's work The Taming of the Shrew . A theatre company with principal performers divorcees Lilli Vanessi (Caroline Sheen) and Fred Graham (Matthew McKenna) are putting on Shrew interspersed with their quarrelling behind and on stage. Added to the mix is a romantic side piece featuring Lois Lane (Monique Young) and Bill Calhoun (Justin Thomas) and some nefarious characters after some money. Caroline Sheen There is just so much to delight in from this production, right from the first viewing of the impressive and very grand set and an amazingly well choreographed initial number of Another Op'nin', Another Show , you just...

There was a time twelve months or so ago that musicals for me were few and far between, now I seem to be watching loads of them. Therefore it was of course inevitable that I would find myself at the Royal & Derngate for Stage Entertainment/Sheffield Theatres new touring version of Anything Goes. My only previous encounter with Cole Porter was when I watched a 2001 version of Kiss Me Kate on Sky Arts a few months ago. It was great fun and therefore a live Porter show held high anticipation. I was not to be disappointed as this was an incredibly dynamic and "big" performance. Probably the most lavish I have seen outside London maybe. Spotless performances and simply huge numbers, with dance routines that filled every inch of the Derngate stage. Particularly the show stopping "Anything Goes" to close the first half. From my three rows from stage seat, I almost felt as if I was on the SS America, such were the set-pieces so large. The story itself is, I am growi...