STAGE REVIEW
Cathy Foy rates as the musical Kate
By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Special to The Advertiser
Cathy Foy won a Po'okela award a few seasons ago for starring in "Kiss Me, Kate" on the tiny stage at Hawai'i Pacific University. Now she proves she can expand the role at least six times over to fill the cavernous Richardson Theatre at Fort Shafter.
The sound system helps, of course, but Foy has the right feel for Shakespeare's braying heroine from "The Taming of the Shrew" and for Cole Porter's haughty actress Lilli Vanessi, who is her alter ego in this musical within a musical.
'Kiss Me, Kate'
The show is creaky enough to prove its age, but show-biz stories are always fun and bigger than life. In this one, a pair of divorced actors (Foy and Buz Tennent) transfer their personal antagonisms into a production of Shakespeare's comedy as Kate and Petruchio.
Their warring continues on stage and off during the course of their opening night performance, and anyone wondering what's happening to Shakespeare's play while its major characters spend great chunks of time in their dressing rooms hasn't quite got into the spirit of the piece.
It's not meant to be realistic, merely a satire and a spoof.
Foy's voice is in fine tune, giving an operetta quality to "So In Love" and sharp character bite to "I Hate Men." Tennent finds the right pompously stiff quality to effectively play Petruchio and uses a strong baritone to balance Foy on "Wunderbar" and the title song.
David Starr and Larry Bialock make the most of their character roles as a couple of charming gangsters, especially when stealing curtain calls to their big number, "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." Tricia Marciel is an effective Bianca and grasping nightclub dancer.
Jim Hutchison directs and choreographs a sizzling interpretation of "Too Darn Hot" that gives punch to the opening of the second act. In it, Alison Maldonado belts out the vocal and Cole Horibe leads the chorus with dance moves equal to those in any professional company.
Unfortunately, it's Maldonado's only number, and Horibe is otherwise reduced by a baby blue Fauntleroy costume to the status of wimpy suitor for most of the show.
Other dance numbers are not as effective. We long for some real soft shoe for the gangsters and wouldn't miss much if the suitors' and full-company numbers were cut entirely to shorten a long first act.
Cutting 30 minutes from the production's nearly three-hour playing time would tighten things up, and the finale needs a distinctive big finish to bring down the curtain. But, on the whole, the leads are equal to the music and their roles while the chorus and orchestra provide good support.
