Show guide
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate follows a bickering divorced acting couple who are forced to work out their real life drama while performing a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.
- Broadway premiere
- 1948
- Music by
- Cole Porter
- Genre
- Golden Age
- Setting
- 1940s
Kiss Me, Kate: quick answers
What is Kiss Me, Kate about?
- Kiss Me, Kate follows divorced stars Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi as they open in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, with their offstage fights spilling onto the stage while two gangsters try to collect a gambling debt.
When did Kiss Me, Kate open on Broadway?
- Kiss Me, Kate opened on Broadway on December 30, 1948, at the New Century Theatre, later moving to the Shubert, and ran for 1,077 performances. It won the first Tony Award for Best Musical, and its 1999 revival won the Tony for Best Revival.
Is Kiss Me, Kate a Golden Age musical?
- Yes. Kiss Me, Kate opened in December 1948, squarely in Broadway's Golden Age, and is a book musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack. It was Porter's only show to run more than 1,000 performances on Broadway.
Where and when is Kiss Me, Kate set?
- The frame story is set backstage and onstage at a theatre on the opening night of a new musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, while the show-within-the-show is set in Shakespeare's Padua.
Has Kiss Me, Kate played in London's West End?
- Kiss Me, Kate opened in the West End at the Coliseum Theatre on March 8, 1951, and ran for 400 performances. Later London revivals include a 2012 Chichester production at the Old Vic and a 2024 Barbican production directed by Bartlett Sher.
Is there a Kiss Me, Kate movie?
- MGM filmed Kiss Me Kate in 1953 in 3-D, directed by George Sidney, with Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, and Ann Miller. It has also been adapted for television several times, first on Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1958 with Broadway stars Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison.
The story of Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate uses a play within a play structure, following actor manager Fred Graham and his ex wife Lilli Vanessi as they star opposite each other in a musical adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Offstage jealousy, old wounds, and Fred's flirtation with the younger actress Lois Lane bleed into the onstage performance, blurring the line between the Shakespeare plot and the stars' own volatile relationship.
A subplot involving two gamblers who mistake Fred for a debtor and end up literally forced onstage at gunpoint adds farce to the romantic tangle. Lois's boyfriend Bill Calhoun, a gambler with a habit of signing Fred's name to IOUs, drives much of that comic chaos, while the show's central question remains whether Fred and Lilli can find their way back to each other.
The music and the makers
Cole Porter wrote the music and lyrics, with a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack, and it is widely regarded as Porter's finest full score, blending witty, urbane lyrics with lush romantic ballads. It was Porter's response to a career slump, and its success reestablished him as one of Broadway's top composers.
Signature numbers include Another Op'nin', Another Show, the sweeping So in Love, and comic showstoppers like Always True to You in My Fashion and Brush Up Your Shakespeare, delivered by the two gangsters. That mix of sophisticated wordplay and genuine emotional ballads gives the score both laughs and warmth in equal measure.
Kiss Me, Kate on Broadway
Kiss Me, Kate opened on Broadway on December 30, 1948, at the New Century Theatre, starring Alfred Drake as Fred and Patricia Morison as Lilli, and ran for 1,077 performances. It won the very first Tony Award given for Best Musical in 1949.
The show has been revived on Broadway multiple times, including a 1999 production that won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical, and a 2019 revival at Studio 54. It remains one of the most celebrated backstage musicals, admired for how gracefully it weaves Shakespeare, showbiz satire, and old fashioned romance into a single evening.
Kiss Me, Kate: frequently asked questions
Is Kiss Me, Kate based on a true story?
Not directly, though producer Arnold Saint-Subber got the idea after watching married stage stars Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne bicker on and off stage during their 1935 production of The Taming of the Shrew.
Is Kiss Me, Kate a Golden Age musical?
Yes. Kiss Me, Kate opened in December 1948, in the heart of Broadway's Golden Age of roughly 1943 to the mid 1960s. It was Cole Porter's response to integrated book musicals like Oklahoma!, and the first of his shows in which the songs were firmly tied to the script.
Did Kiss Me, Kate win the Tony Award for Best Musical?
Yes. Kiss Me, Kate won the very first Tony Award for Best Musical, given in 1949, cementing Cole Porter's comeback after a career slump.
Is Kiss Me, Kate still running on Broadway?
No. The original production closed in 1951 after 1,077 performances, and the most recent Broadway revival, a Roundabout Theatre Company production at Studio 54, closed on June 30, 2019.
When did Kiss Me, Kate open on Broadway?
Kiss Me, Kate opened on Broadway on December 30, 1948, at the New Century Theatre.
Who composed Kiss Me, Kate?
Cole Porter composed the music and lyrics.
What is Kiss Me, Kate about?
It follows a divorced acting couple, Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, whose real life conflicts collide with the Shakespeare musical they are starring in together.
Can you name today's mystery Broadway show?
Play the Show Guesser