Kiss Me, Kate

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Brush up your Shakespeare, start quoting him now.

A 1948 musical by Cole Porter. Kiss Me, Kate was an answer to Oklahoma! in that the music advanced the plot. It also won the first Tony Award for Best Musical (along with four other Tonys).

Its best known song is "Brush Up Your Shakespeare". "Another Op'nin', Another Show" is also widely recognized.

Tropes used in Kiss Me, Kate include:

Lilli: Whose fault was it?
Fred: Could have been your temper.
Lilli: Could have been your ego.

  • Beta Couple: Bill and Lois.
  • Brainless Beauty: Lois
  • Breakaway Pop Hit: Cut Song "From This Moment On" to a limited extent.
  • Comedy of Remarriage: Implied at the end.
  • Crowd Song: "Another Op'nin', Another Show", "Bianca", "Kiss Me Kate".
  • Cut Song: "From This Moment On", though it was later reinstated.
    • Strangely, this is a cut number from a different Cole Porter musical, Out of This World, which made its way into the film version of Kiss Me, Kate and then, in a different context, revivals of the stage version.
  • Delusions of Eloquence: The Two Men. (It's implied that they did a lot of reading in prison.)
  • Double Entendre: It's a show by Cole Porter -- would you expect anything else?
  • The Family for the Whole Family: The Two Men.
  • Fair for Its Day: The roles of Fred's and Lilli's personal assistants seem almost blatantly racist in hindsight, though they are still sympathetic--if underdeveloped--characters. On the other hand, back in the '40s you had people complaining that they got too much face-time, along with those scandalous act-opening numbers (Moral Guardians actually tried to ban "Too Darn Hot", and did at least succeed in transferring it to the white characters and toning down the lyrics for The Movie)...
  • The Gambler: Bill.
  • Godwin's Law: The dialog between Fred and Lilli

Lilli: "I'm marrying an important man! Do the words "World War 2" mean anything to you?"
Fred: "You're marrying Adolf Hitler?"