Students impress with high energy performance

Kiss Me Kate, Spanish Hall, Winter Gardens
Kiss Me KateKiss Me Kate
Kiss Me Kate

Cole Porter’s frivolous deconstruction of Shakespeare’s Taming of The Shrew was showcased beautifully in the atmospheric Spanish Hall.

Blackpool and The Fylde College musical theatre students provided high energy entertainment combined with technical excellence, although let down slightly by sound issues.

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Shane Rice and Charlotte Catmull as Fred Graham/Petruchio and Lilli Vanessi/Katherine shone in their roles with Fred’s dubious attitude to women more than matched by the fiery ‘shrew’ Lilli giving as good as she got. Shane’s acting skills were particularly apparent in Where Is The Life That Late I Led.

The secondary romance between charismatic Rebecca Allmark and excellent Danyl Halliwell as Lois Lane and Bill Calhoun including Always True to You In My Fashion, while the cheeky Too Darn Hot had sizzling choreography by Anna Dunnett.

Despite the many powerful songs in this ‘play within a play’ scenario, it seems comedy rules and one of the highlights was Brush Up Your Shakespeare by the gangster duo, played to perfection by Alistair Mackintosh and Hannah-Marie Wall.

The ensemble, as always, the backbone of any show, rose to the challenge of this complex musical with credit also going to the costume department.

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It is, however, fair to say that Michael Holdsworth, as director, must take the lion’s share of plaudits for the success of this production in what was a particularly enjoyable evening.

YVONNE FIELDING