Cast List for "Kiss Me, Kate"

This cast is incredible!  It's a great combination of new faces with familiar favorites! We couldn't be happier to welcome these super talented singers, dancers, and actors to the cast of Kiss Me, Kate.

This cast is so awesome we need to use all caps to say it again: INCREDIBLE.

Here it is:
Lilli Vanessi /Katherine - Wendy Morrison
Fred Graham/Petruchio - John Hall
Bill Calhoun/Lucentio - Lyle Laney
Loius/Bianca - Katelyn McGuirk
Gangster #1 - Pat LaCorte
Gangster #2 - Waylon Wood
Paul - Ben Falcon
Hattie - Leslie Lang
Dance Captain/Gregory - Jacob Walas
Harry Trevor/Baptista Minola - Steve Turner
Stagehand#1/Nathaniel - Bobby Abrahamson
Stagehand#2/Phillip - John Coggins
Stagehand #3/Haberbasher - Luke Haynes
Riley/Hortensio - Dwight Chiles
Flynt/Gremio - Adam Bowers
Pops/Padua Priest - Mike Vaniman
Wardrobe lady - Ruth Planey
General Harrison Howell - Jeff Catanese
Stage Manager - David Ely

Ensemble Singers: Jacqueline Canney, Candice Owen and  Nana Hosmer

Dancers: Rachel Gordon, Fleming Lomax, Lindsay Salvati, Kimberly Brown and Karyn Panek and Cari Quigley

The Grapes of Wrath: Adapting the Novel

We've fielded a lot of questions at the Box Office about the adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath from the novel to the stage. We've gotten everything from "How can a 500 page novel fit into a 2.5 hour show?" to "Is the turtle-crossing-the-road scene in the play?" We found a terrific interview with Frank Galati, who adapted the novel for the stage, that answers those questions (and many others):

 

Haven't read the book in awhile? Spend less than seven minutes listening to this song written and performed by Woody Guthrie. One of our fabulous Facebook friends posted it with a little background: "This is the original "Tom Joad" recording by Woody Guthrie, written overnight after he saw John Ford's film version ... John Steinbeck said that Woody told the story better in the song's verses than Steinbeck had in his 500+ page novel ..."




So yes, not only can you adapt the novel to a 2.5 hour play, it can also be adapted into a 7 minute ballad! 

(And we note that Woody Guthrie also left out the part about the turtle...)

The Grapes of Wrath: Creating the Scene

The truck before moving to its new home at ACT.

This 1923 International Harvestor was purchased specifically for The Grapes of Wrath. Scenic Designer Rob Bowen shares how he found it, why he bought it, and how it will be used onstage:

RB: I was searching for a way to do the truck because how the truck looked would influence the rest of the set design. My research showed many creative ways to create the truck, which is truly a character in the first act. The problem with many of the truck solutions is that they take us out of the world of the play and increased the aesthetic distance instead of bridging it. I felt that if we got something that was reasonable looking, it would allow us to use minimal scenery with props to create the rest of the world, whereas if used a facsimile of a truck, the audience would be pulled out of this minimal setting world by this represented image. I struggled with this problem and how to solve it. Then it hit me as I was driving to the university one day: I pass by this truck on the side of the road everyday and it has been there for a long time. What if we bought it and converted it? I took pictures and approached Jill [Summers, Technical Director] and asked her to meet me at it to look and see what she thought about it. She was enthusiastic so I called a number on a tow truck next to it and that person gave me the number of the owner and I talked with him. It turned out he lives about a half a mile from me.

The more I have learned about this lady of a truck, the more it has grown fonder with me. I was surprised to learn that the rusty engine still works, that it started its career in Oregon in 1923, and that it never was fast - it was made to haul heavy loads. It spent the early 50s until recently with its second owner in Wyoming and then recently came to Asheville. This truck has only had 3 owners with ACT being the 4th.

The truck makes its stage debut in a publicity photo shoot.

ACT: How will it be used onstage?
RB: It will be handled by the cast onstage using a caster system. The truck will interact with the actors on stage and help them make the journey from Oklahoma to California. They will ride in it, they will swing it around. We will see it from the front, the side, the back - as I mentioned earlier, it is a character. It anchors the location and allows us to use lights and platforming to create the world in the mind of the audience.

ACT: What will happen to the truck after the show closes?
RB: We have several options for the truck after the play. I think one reason the play is not performed as often as it could be is that the truck is a major issue and there is no place to rent it. If we could find a place to store it and advertise it, we might be able to make up cost and overhead through rentals. Otherwise, we probably will just disassemble it and see if we can sell it through car restoration sites.

This has been a great collaboration with Jill and the staff of ACT. They are the ones that are going to make this happen.

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Would your theatre like to own this truck for your production needs? Contact Technical Director Jill Summers with inquiries.