Day before yesterday here, I posted a number from the BBC Proms concert presentation of the musical Kiss Me Kate, which they did back in 2014. Reader-of-this-site Dan Kravetz pointed out to me that the entire show — all two hours and 13 minutes of it — is up on YouTube and quite linkworthy…so guess what's below.
Dan wrote, "This performance, and the abridged TV version with original stars Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison, are must-sees for anyone who loves this show (and had strong reservations about the last couple of Broadway revivals)." Well, I love the show, though I didn't see the most recent Broadway revival which was last year and starred Kelli O'Hara and Will Chase. I'd go see anything with Ms. O'Hara in it but that version closed after a brief 125 performances and I couldn't work a New York trip into my schedule during its short run.
I did see — twice! — the 1999 revival with (originally) Marin Mazzie and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Saw it once with Mitchell and once with Merwin Foard (recent obit here) filling in as Fred Graham and I thought it was just about perfect both times. And I also saw a touring company production of it in Los Angeles with Rachel York and Brent Barrett, which was captured in London for the PBS Great Performances series. (Not quite as good as it was on stage in New York, though not because of the leads.)
And I've seen a few other productions of it which didn't, I thought, serve the material well. The one below suffers a bit as a scenery-less concert performance with the orchestra in almost every shot that isn't a close-up. Still, the performers are near-flawless and the songs never sounded better. If you have the time to spare — and you do because what the hell else do you have to do these days? — give it a look. Thanks for the head's up, Dan…