Wicomico High School

Kiss Me, Kate is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and the conflict on and off-stage between Fred Graham, the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi. A secondary romance concerns Lois Lane, the actress playing Bianca, and her gambler boyfriend, Bill, who runs afoul of some gangsters. Kiss Me Kate is one of the Broadway classics, and widely regarded as Cole Porter's best show. First produced in 1948, it won the first Best Musical Tony in 1949. Porter and the Spewacks also won for music, lyrics and script. The show has been produced around the world for the last seventy years, including Broadway revivals in 1999 and 2019.