Kiss Me Kate was Wunderbar at Sayville High School!

They Struck It Rich With Kiss Me, Kate!

“I’ve Come to Wive it Wealthily in Padua” may have been the fortune-seeking intentions of Petrucchio, a lothario who courts the unruly Kate in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, but the Sayville High School Drama and Music Departments’ production of Kiss Me, Kate definitely found treasures in the golden voices, rich acting, opulent costumes, and sparkling dancing of the outstanding cast. The production was also supported by a wealth of talent in the orchestra pit and behind-the-scenes crews.

While the musical comedy Kiss Me, Kate is about a theatrical company, circa 1948, performing a musical version of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew in Baltimore Maryland, it utilizes “the-play-within-the-play” technique of the famous Bard. Offstage the slings and arrows of love’s fortunes that assail the acting troupe parallel the onstage action within the play.

Despite snow day cancellations that dramatically tightened the production schedules, Director Steven Hailey, Musical Director Karen DiMartino, Orchestra Conductor Ari Kramer, Sound Supervisor Andy Giammalvo, Technical Advisor Ken VanEssendolft, and a supportive production staff pulled it all together to ensure the show would go on. (See the Sayville School District website http://www.sayvilleschools.org/district.cfm?subpage=42626 for the full list of cast and crew.)

And what a show it was. Blending high-brow sarcasm and low-brow vaudevillian humor with the genius of Cole Porter and his unforgettable music, the Sayville’s production of Kiss Me Kate was Wunderbar, forsooth!