Nease High School drama program presents ‘Kiss Me Kate’

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The music of Cole Porter melded with Shakespeare’s classic “Taming of the Shrew” last week, when the Nease High School drama program presented its production of the Broadway musical “Kiss Me, Kate.”

Performed Oct. 27-30 at the Nease High School Performing Arts Center, the show featured a cast and crew of more than 40 students, some of whom portrayed dual roles as part of the Tony Award-winning musical’s “play-within-a-play” format. In the modern retelling of the Shakespeare comedy, divorced Broadway stars Fred Graham (portrayed by Sebastian Conte) and Lilli Vanessi (Abby Watson) reunite on stage to star in Shakespeare’s classic play about a battle of the sexes between the headstrong Kate and her determined suitor, Petruchio. Art soon imitates life, however, as the egotistical actors’ on-stage battle spills over into backstage rivalries, romances and run ins with the mob.

The Nease drama program presents several productions each year, with recent theatrical presentations including “The Crucible,” “Almost, Maine” and the musical “Cinderella.”