Kiss Me, Kate

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.

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Tropes used in Kiss Me, Kate include:

• 3D Movie: The film version, although it's now extremely difficult to see it in the original format.
• All Musicals Are Adaptations: Slightly under half the show is a musical adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew.
• Anti-Hero: Fred.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Fred and Lilli.

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?"

• "I Am" Song: "Always True to You".
• The Ingenue: Subverted with Lois. She plays one on stage as Bianca but is far less virginal off stage.
• Intercourse with You: "Too Darn Hot".
• Irrelevant Act Opener: "Too Darn Hot".
• "I Want" Song: "Why Can't You Behave".
• Large Ham: The Two Men, with Fred and General Howell trying to out-ham them.
• Literary Allusion Title
• Name's the Same: Lois Lane.
• No Name Given: The Two Men, called 'Man 1' and 'Man 2' in the script.]
• The Plan: Fred attempt this to keep Lilli in the show, it works for a while, but not long enough.
• Precision F-Strike: "You BASTARD!"
• Proscenium Reveal: Just before the overture reaches its final chords, the conductor cuts it off and asks, "Is that all right, Mr. Graham?" Fred enters and says, "Yes, the cut's good, leave it in."
• Pushed in Front of the Audience: The Two Men.
• Really Gets Around: Lois sings a whole song about it
• Running Gag: Lilli is unable to sit down after Fred's spanking.
• Show Within a Show: The musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, which itself is a Show Within a Show, based on the opening number of their musical, We Open In Venice.
• Spank the Cutie
• That Reminds Me of a Song: "Wunderbar".
• Those Two Guys: The Two Men.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Lilli and Lois. Subverted in that Lilli is a Tomboy with attitude but is also very feminine and a soprano.
• World of Ham: In and Out of Universe.