"Kiss Me Kate" by LEOS Musical Theatre Company

May Hall, Trent College, Long Eaton.

The plot is a clever one: divorced Broadway stars Fred Graham (Petruchio) and Lilli Vanessi (Katherine) are opening their production of "The Taming of the Shrew" in 1950s Baltimore. Backstage tensions overspill into on-stage action with romantic misunderstandings between Fred, the soon-to-be-remarried Lilli and their young co-star Lois Lane, playing Catherine's younger sister, Bianca. Added to this Lois' boyfriend Bill, also in the show playing Lucentio, has signed an IOU for his gambling debts to Mr Hogan, the local mafia don, causing his collectors to pay the theatre a visit - eventually ending up as part of the show.

Cole Porter is one of my favourite songwriters and injects so much humour into his songs and this musical is a perfect vehicle for his work. Many of these songs are standards and have been recorded by many international stars. Hearing them in the context of this musical gives a lot of them new meaning. They are jazzy, bluesy and have a few naughty connotations - just listen to "Tom, Dick Or Harry". His lyrics are very clever - how long must it have taken him to write "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" where he deliberately bends the words to fit what he wants it to say. He plays with words, often giving the singer a tongue twister just for fun - "I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua" or "Where Is The Life That Late I Led".  And then there are the standards like "From This Moment On" and "So In Love". Oh, and then there is "I Hate Men", pure brilliance.

Gavin O Wen plays Fred/Petruchio and commands the stage with a wry sense of humour. You could see that spark in Gavin's eye, showing his enjoyment in playing this fun character. The chemistry between Fred and Lilli is brilliantly created and you can tell that there is still that spark, especially with their first duet "Wunderbar". Gavin doesn't have that much of a chance to show off his vocal abilities here, but when he does, like in "So In Love", it shows class.

Anna McAuley plays Lilli/Kate. Now I don't think that I've had the pleasure of seeing Anna in such a big leading role in the past. Seeing her in this really proved what a gorgeous voice she has. "Sparkling" is a word that came to mind as I was sat in May Hall listening to her. Her voice just danced on the melody, putting the "Operatic" into the Operatic Society of this drama company's name. Anna also has the ability to show off her comic talents as well; just listen to the title song and her input with that one.

Josie Coleman plays Lois Lane/Bianca. There are so many strong actors and performances in this show and Josie is yet another strong actor and singer. Loved the jazziness in "Always True To You In My Fashion", a lovely contrast to the pleading "Why Can't You Behave" she sings to Bill.

Robert McAuley as Bill/Lucentio. I've watched Robert over the years develop into a very confident actor and singer, and in this role he shows what a fine actor and singer he is - I mean let's face it, it runs in the family anyway. He has matured like a fine wine; see how he takes charge of the stage in, yet another big song and dance number "Bianca" for proof of that.

Louise McGowen as First Man and Amy Clover as Second Man and is also the Assistant Director for the show. These characters are the debt collectors who are after Bill for his IOU, which he signed in Fred's name. I love accents and this pair cracked me up with their broad Noo Yoik accents. The ramped up the comedy even more with "Brush Up Your Shakespeare", a particular highlight for me, and as far as I could tell, an audience pleaser to boot.

Dan Bates as General Howell. I've seen enough of Dan on stage and in various roles to know what an excellent character actor Dan is. So seeing Dan play a loud General in the U.S. army just added to his list of comedy character actors. He knows exactly what he is doing with every part he takes on and delivers every time.

Arden-Caspar Jennison as Paul. Another actor I've seen come up through the ranks to become the solid and dependable actor, singer and, especially highlighted for me in this musical, a proficient dancer as well. The opening of Act two is the song "Too Darn Hot", which Arden performs with a big ensemble. This was yet another one of my highlights; you can't beat a big, flashy opening and that's what we got for the start of the second act, and leading that was Arden all the way.

Emma Collins as Hattie, who opens the whole show with the wonderful, and very aptly titled "Another Openin', Another Show". You can't help but get in the mood for thsi musical once you've seen and heard Emma perform this.

As you can imagine, with a musical that has a show within a show for the main show, there are plenty of minor roles and ensemble roles, all of which deserve a mention. After all, where would we be without the talented ensemble?

Oscar Gregory (Hortensio), Alice Taylder (Painter/Ensemble), Becky Morley (Painter/Ensemble), Charmian Hardy (various roles/Ensemble), Eleanor Harvey (Musician/Waitress/Ensemble), Emilia Pettit (Wardrobe Assostant/Ensemble), Jack Woolley (Ralph/ Stage Manager showing how difficult a Stage Manager's job can be/ Ensemble), Joanna East (Stagehand/Ensemble), Laurie Trott (Make Up Artist/Thora/Ensemble), Lilli White (Wardrobe Mistress/Ensemble), Lisa Stone (Publicist/Ensemble), Martin Orrell (Harry Trevor?Baptista Minola), Matthew McAuley (Gremio), Megan Fennell (Photographer/Haberdasher/Ensemble), Molly Parkinson (Danser/Ensemble), Phil Deakin (Pops/Doorman/Inkeeper), Phoebe Jennison (Dancer/Ensemble), Rachel Spence (Dancer/Ensemble) and Victoria Palmer (Dance Captain/Ensemble).

Giles Pettit is the Musical Director for "Kiss Me Kate" and his ten piece band sounded more like an orchestra. Lush and rich; every section of the band came together to create a sound not unlike a soundtrack recording of the show.

Choreographing the show is Rachel Murray, and what I loved most of all in this area was the big ensemble pieces like "Too Darn Hot". What a show for choreography, and what a choreographer.

Directing duties fall to Kathryn McAuley, who should know a bit about Shakespeare as she performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford last year. I just wonder how easy, or difficult it is to give direction to practically all of your family who are on stage. It goes without saying that everything was very tight and of the highest professional quality, because that's what you get when you love what you do, and Kathryn loves what she does, and it shows.

The Lighting Design is by David Price, an absolute expert in his field, and that shows with the quality of the design in this show, especially the opening to Act Two. The operation of the design was managed perfectly by Harvey Latter.

I only noticed a couple of missed cues with the sound, but what I noticed more was the quality of the sound at May Hall. Once upon a time the sound was not clear and was not good but it's got better, and tonight I think the sound quality was the best that I've heard in this theatre. Sam Lenord was the man behind  the sound tonight.

Set rostrums were provided by Roydon Charlesworth, who seems to be the man to go to for a solid set rostrum as he is all over the place and in a multitude of programme credits, and good on him for providing a sterling service and quality piece of set.

Loved the costumes (Lace Market Theatre Hire), Hair (Carole McTernan) and make up. There are so many props used in this show as well. I tried to count them but gave up. Again, it's not an area that gets much praise but it's a vital part of putting on a show and I think Katie Bird, Christine Daykin and Jack Warburton also deserve a mention. Many important cogs are needed to make a machine work, and if just one cog is missing..........

"Kiss Me Kate" will be at May Hall at Trent College in Long Eaton until Saturday 1 April. You'll be missing an absolute corker of a show if you fail to get a ticket.