Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Bella and Samuel Spewack
August 22-24, 2014 at the Wisconsin Union Theater
Four Seasons Theatre returns to the Wisconsin Union Theater after two full years of building renovation. The Union Theater opened in 1939 with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne’s touring Broadway production of The Taming of the Shrew. How better to kick off the Union Theater’s 75th season than with the musical version of this classic story – Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate!
Performances are Friday 8/22 at 7:30 pm, Saturday 8/23 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday 8/24 at 2 pm.
Tickets ($25-$40, including $2 facility fee) for Kiss Me, Kate are available through online sales at this time. On the day of the show in person sales will start at the Memorial Union Box Office two hours before the start of the show (5:30 pm on Saturday and Noon on Sunday).
Check out our Show Trailer for a peek at the sets, choreography, and costumes, all set to a live recording of our cast and orchestra performing “Another Op’nin’, Another Show.”
Isthmus Review: “Four Seasons Theatre’s Kiss Me, Kate is a joyful homage to the Wisconsin Union Theater’s first production.” Read the full article.
Four Seasons Theatre was featured in the Wisconsin State Journal in “With ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ Madison continues its love affair with musical theater.” Read the full article.
77 Square Review: “With sparkling Kiss Me, Kate Four Seasons celebrates the past and the future.” Read the full article.
Lead actors Wendy Jones Hill (Lilli Vanessi/Kate) and Steven Koehler (Fred Graham/Petruchio), director Miranda Hawk, and producer Sarah Marty were featured on University of the Air on Sunday, August 17. You can hear the hour-long broadcast of music and interviews on the WPR website.
The UW-Madison Business School featured FST Producing Artistic Director Sarah Marty along with Union Theater Assistant Director of Development and Outreach Heather Good in an article about the two years of planning that went into their collaboration on Kiss Me, Kate. Read the full article.
Four Seasons Theatre made it to BroadwayWorld.com with “Four Seasons Theatre opens Wisconsin Union Theater 75th Season with Kiss Me, Kate.” Read the full article.
Director Miranda Hawk, Choreographer Brian Cowing (Les Miserables, She Loves Me, My Fair Lady, South Pacific), and Music Director Calli Ingebritson are at the helm for our production of Kiss Me, Kate. Scenic designs by Professor Emeritus Joe Varga will be realized by a set build team, from University Theatre/UW-Madison Department of Theatre and Drama, led by Technical Director John Van Arsdale. Costume and Hair/Makeup Designer Susan Gustaf (who worked on the 1999 national tour of Kiss Me, Kate), Lighting Designer John Penisten (A Little Night Music, Les Miserables), Sound Designer Jim Uphoff (A Little Night Music, Les Miserables), Props Designer Marja Barger (The Fantasticks, Les Miserables), Conductor Eric Anderson (My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music, She Loves Me) and Stage Manager Martinique Barthel (A Little Night Music) round out the team.
See the Cast List for Kiss Me, Kate.
Steven Koehler (Fred Graham/Petruchio) is thrilled to be back in Madison (UW Class of 1988) making his Four Seasons debut in Kiss Me, Kate at the spiffed-up Wisconsin Union Theater. Steve, an Equity actor, is best known as “Lloyd” from Guys on Ice—which will be filmed by Wisconsin Public Television this summer at American Folklore Theatre. Some of his other credits include: The Sound of Music (Captain Von Trapp) and The Spitfire Grill (Caleb) with Skylight Music Theatre; Lend Me a Tenor (Tito) and Rabbit Hole (Howie) with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre; Camelot (Lancelot) with CTM; and Victory Farm (Wolfgang) with American Folklore Theatre. Steve teaches physics and acting at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. He and his wife Julie-Honey (UW Class of 1987) have been blessed with two boys—Alexander Steven (UW Class of 2017!) and Austin Max (17). ON WISCONSIN!!
Wendy Jones Hill (Lilli Vanessi/Katherine) has worked extensively in the Madison area as an actress, director and drama coach with many companies, including Four Seasons Theatre, CTM, Madison Opera, and the Madison Rep. FST credits include appearances in Great Dames Songbook, Les Miserables, and Little Women (Marmee). In addition, Wendy both directed and performed in four FST productions, including Side by Side by Sondheim, The Cole Porter Songbook, The Irving Berlin Songbook, and The Gershwin Songbook.
Michael Etzwiler (Bill Calhoun/Lucentio), native of Baraboo, teaches tap and Theatre Dance and Zumba at The Bravo Center, and choreographs for local theater productions. After graduating with honors with a BFA in Music Theater from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Michael went on to study on scholarship with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Center in Evanston Il, and then moved to NYC where he trained at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway as well as many other notable studios. Michael danced in the National Tour of Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat through Papermill Playhouse (Starring Patrick Cassidy, Debra Gibson, and the Osmond Second Generation), The Who’s Tommy, and the ’94 revival of Guys and Dolls, as well as many other regional productions and workshops including Madison Opera.
Sarah Streich (Lois Lane/Bianca) is a Chicagoland native, and studied theater at both Illinois State University and the College of DuPage. At the latter, she was a recipient of the John Belushi Memorial Scholarship. Some of her favorite shows there were Pippin, Balm in Gilead, The Amorous Flea, and Mother Courage and Her Children. A few years were spent in Rochester, MN, working at the Mayo Clinic and moonlighting as a singer in a band. She also performed in several productions with the Rochester Civic Theatre, including Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes and Lois Lane/Bianca in KISS ME KATE! This summer she will be celebrating the beginning of her tenth year in Madison, and in that time has had the pleasure to work with many local companies, including Strollers Theatre, Madison Theatre Guild, StageQ, and OUT!Cast. Previous roles with Four Seasons include Percy Talbot in The Spitfire Grill (in partnership with MTG) and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.
Andy White (Paul), a 2005 graduate of Madison East High School, returns to Madison to star as Paul in KISS ME, KATE! Andy is currently on the national tour of BRING IT ON (Steven, u/s Randall). Recent credits include national tours of SHREK (brick pig, u/s Shrek) and LEGALLY BLONDE (Aaron, u/s Emmett).