Character guide
Fred Graham
from Kiss Me, Kate
Fred Graham is the actor, director, and producer at the center of Kiss Me, Kate, Cole Porter's 1948 musical.
- Show
- Kiss Me, Kate
- Broadway premiere
- 1948
- Role
- Lead
- Music by
- Cole Porter
Fred Graham on stage vs screen
Broadway compared with the 1953 film
The 1953 film opens somewhere the stage show never goes: Fred's New York apartment, where he and Lilli hear Cole Porter himself, played by Ron Randell, perform the score for the new show. Howard Keel played Fred in MGM's 3-D film, while Alfred Drake, who originated the role on Broadway in 1948, repeated it on television for Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1958.
Keel returned to the role on television too, starring in a 1964 BBC Two production with Broadway's original Lilli, Patricia Morison. In both stage and screen versions Fred is the show's director and its Petruchio, and in both, two gangsters come to collect on a gambling IOU that Bill signed in Fred's name.
Who is Fred Graham?
Fred is staging and starring in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, cast opposite his ex wife Lilli Vanessi in the role of Kate. He is vain, prone to flirting with the younger actress Lois Lane, and not above using the production to needle Lilli, but underneath the ego he still loves her.
Over the course of one chaotic performance night, complicated further by two gangsters mistaking him for a debtor, Fred is forced to confront how much he has taken Lilli for granted, setting up the show's reconciliation.
Fred Graham's role in Kiss Me, Kate
Fred is the male lead, doubling as the actor playing Petruchio within the show within the show, and the role demands a commanding baritone as well as comic flair. His numbers include Where Is the Life That Late I Led and the tender So in Love with Lilli.
Alfred Drake originated the role in 1948 and set the template for a part that requires equal parts leading man charisma and self deprecating comedy, later played on Broadway by performers including Brian Stokes Mitchell in the 1999 revival.
Fred Graham: frequently asked questions
What show is Fred Graham from?
Fred Graham is the lead male character in Kiss Me, Kate, which opened in 1948.
Is Fred Graham a lead or supporting role?
Fred Graham is a lead role, playing both the show's producer and Petruchio in the play within the play.
Who wrote the music for Kiss Me, Kate?
Cole Porter wrote the music and lyrics for Kiss Me, Kate.
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