The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards® Presented By:
Presented By:
The Broadway League American Theatre Wing
The company of Kiss Me, Kate.
Photo by Joan Marcus

Kiss Me, Kate

4 NOMINATIONs

Kiss Me, Kate

WATCH VIDEO
WATCH VIDEO
PRODUCTION CREDITS
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
CAST ALBUM
SCRIPT

Cast Album

A new production of Cole Porter’s sparkling 1948 musical of warring lovers. While putting on a musical version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, a pair of exes, Fred Graham (Will Chase) and Lilli Vanessi (Kelli O’Hara), can’t decide if they’re enraged, enamored, or enormously confused whenever they cross paths out of character.

THEATRE:

Studio 54

OPENING NIGHT:

March 14, 2019

Producers:

Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers, Steve Dow

Nominations

Best Revival of a Musical
Kiss Me, Kate
Nominated Globe
Kelli O'Hara
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Kelli O'Hara
Nominated Globe
Best Choreography
Warren Carlyle
Nominated Globe
Best Orchestrations
Larry Hochman
Nominated Globe

Trivia

The original production of Kiss Me, Kate was the first show ever to win a Tony Award as Best Musical. It was also the first Cole Porter musical in which his songs were thoroughly integrated into the show’s storyline. This version of the musical includes additional material by Amanda Green (Hands on a Hardbody).

The couple at the heart of the show are said to be based loosely on Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, a husband-and-wife team who performed as Petruchio and Katharina in a 1935 Broadway production of The Taming of the Shrew. Their offstage battles were legendary. Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is named in their honor.

History

This is the fourth Broadway production of the Cole Porter/Sam and Bella Spewack musical. The show premiered in 1948 and was previously revived on Broadway in 1952 and 1999. The musical spawned a 1953 feature film and at least four television versions.