By LAURA ROBISON
The Progress
The Moapa Valley Community Theatre (MVCT) performed the well-known stage musical Kiss Me, Kate! last week, amid lots of singing, laughter and applause.
This brilliant, hilarious adaptation was actually a musical within a musical. The entire talented cast captivated the audience in three different showings spanning February 23-25. Each performance was given standing ovations from the audience.
Kiss Me, Kate is a loosely plotted scenario about the out-of-town tryout of a musical version of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The premier production debuted on December 2, 1948.
The ensemble cast included all talent from Moapa Valley, with some of them playing dual roles. But the crew outdid themselves with the production team, costume designer, sets, staging, lighting and technical aspects of the MVCT.
The production was directed by Dr. Kenna Higgins, who currently serves as MVCT President and Artistic Director.
Leading the cast as Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham are Erin Panter and Christopher Wallace, with other MVCT veterans in featured roles include Cynthia Weeks as Paula and Scott Carson as Gangster #1.
Newcomers to MVCT, Melissa Rebman and Will Ragland co-star as Lois Lane and Bill Calhoun.
Jennifer Richins and Kaylin Peay join the production as feature players.
Audience member Natalie Jacobsmeyer said she has been to all the MVCT plays and couldn’t wait to see this one. “I like seeing people having a good time,” she said.
Lorri Rust of Overton was a first-timer attending an MVCT production. She said that she was in awe of the whole thing. “The acting, singing, dancing were fun, and engaging,” she said. “This evening was just brilliant!”
Another group of friends at the theater on Thursday evening, February 23, was Donna Gubler, Audrey Johnson and Pat Lewis. All the women were anticipating a great show as they had been to the previous performances put on by the MVCT.
“I love to see local talent, and I really enjoy this community,” Gubler said.
“It is great to have culture here, and this evening was superb!”Lewis added.
Johnson said she had seen the famous Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor film: “Taming of the Shrew.” She felt that the local production was comparable.
The featured singers Panter and Wallace, were flawless in their musicality, and everyone played their parts to perfection.
A standout performance for many was that of Kaylin Peay as Gangster #2. She delivered every line with a New York mob-style accent.
“I was very nervous, especially to play a gangster from New York,” she said. “I needed to practice a lot to get the accent right. So I watched The Godfather seventeen times to make sure I could pull it off.”
“When you join a community project, you do it because you want to be a part of something special,” Peay added. “There are endless hours of practice and you need to be committed, and love the people you work with.”
Dr. Kenna Higgins said that she was proud of the entire cast and crew. “I hope we can bring many more productions to this great valley,” she said. “It is such a great pleasure to work with so many talented people, from all walks of life and all ages.”
