Only Cole Porter and Bella & Sam Spewack could do Shakespeare one better, and this they do in “Kiss Me Kate”, a rollicking version of the Old Bard’s “The Taming Of The Shrew”. A play within a play - - a structure that Shakespeare himself implemented to heighten the comedy in his works. The alluring Spewack and Porter version switches back and forth between the stormy back stage romance and the theatrical onstage antics of a divorced but still in love couple, Fred Graham, the show’s producer, and Lilli Vanessi, his ex-wife ans star.

The troupe comes together in Baltimore in 1996 to try out Fred’s musical version of “The Shrew”. "Kiss Me Kate” exists in virtual realtime as the musical version of “The Shrew” runs parallel to the offstage conflicts of the divorced but still-infatuated Fred and Lilli.

This clever plot calls for the players to have dual roles and thus the couple play the parts of the prowling Kate and swashbuckling Prtruccio “obstage”. The subplot to Fred and Lilli’s relationship is the rocky romance of Lois, a helpless flirt, and her dance partner and incurable gambler, Bill. Lois and Bill’s roles are enlivened by their performances as Bianca and Lucretio “onstage”. To add to the the uproarious delight, two gangsters arrive to collect Bill’s gambling debt but end up as part of the show.