Karen Mason to Star in Village Light Opera's Kiss Me Kate

Karen Mason will headline a production of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate presented by the Village Light Opera Group, which specializes in operettas and Broadway musicals. Performances will be held April 25 and 26 and May 1-3 at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Haft Auditorium, directed by Tony Spinosa. Musical director Debbie Litwak will conduct a full orchestra.

In addition to Mason as Lilli/Kate, the 50-member cast of Kiss Me Kate will include Bruce Rebold as Fred/Petruchio, Bj Hemann as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio and Amanda Marcheschi as Lois/Bianca.

A musical within a musical, Kiss Me Kate marries Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew with one of Cole Porter’s most memorable and beloved scores. It tells the story of the embattled Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, formerly husband and wife, who are now playing Petruchio and Katherine in a musical version of the Shakespearean battle of the sexes. Tensions between the ex-couple are brought to a boil by Fred’s relationship with the sexy ingenue Lois who plays Bianca, who is also involved with hoofer Bill Calhoun playing Bianca’s love interest, Lucentio. Porter’s Tony-winning score features such classic songs as “Too Darn Hot,” “Another Op’nin’, Another Show,” “So in Love,” “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” “Wunderbar” and “Tom, Dick or Harry.”

Mason, a popular cabaret and recording artist, has appeared on Broadway in Hairspray, Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway and Play Me a Country Song.