I love Broadway musicals. Sometimes, like Showboat, they can touch on some serious subjects, like racism. Othertimes, they can be uplifting, like The Sound of Music. And sometimes they can just be ridiculous bits of fun. Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate, falls into that third type. There are some issues involving sexism, and infidelity in this musical that deserve a separate blog. But today I don’t feel up to anything that serious. Briefly, Kiss Me, Kate is a musical based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. However, we also have a play within a play. We are looking at a company that is putting on a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. We see them backstage. We see the issues that they have with each other. Our two leads are a divorced couple. She is on the verge of marrying someone else. Of course, by the end, they will be together again, after they have dealt with some mistaken gambling debts and mobsters. (Trust me, this is a comedy!)
But for right now, I give you I Hate Men.
This is sung by Katherine in one of The Taming of the Shrew sections.
I hate men
I can’t abide them even now and then
Then ever marry one of them, I’d rest a virgin rather,
For husbands are a boring lot and only give you bother
Of course, I’m awfully glad that mother had to marry father,
Still, I hate men.
Of all the types of men I’ve met within our democracy
I hate the most the athlete with his manner bold and brassy
He may have hair upon his chest, but sister, so has Lassie
Oh, I hate men!
If thou shouldst wed a businessman, be wary, oh be wary
He’ll tell you he’s detained in town on business necessary
The business is the business that he gives his secretary!
Oh, I hate men!
I hate men!
Though roosters they, I will not play the hen
If you espouse an older man through girlish optimism
He’ll always stay at home and night and make no criticism
Though you may call it love, the doctors call is rheumatism
Oh, I hate men!
Of all I’ve read, alone in bed, from A to Zed about ‘em
Since love is blind, then from the mind, all womankind should rout ‘em
But, ladies, you must answer to, what would we do without ‘em?
Still I hate men!
There are other verses, but I think you get the idea. Every company adds some verses or takes some away. Vocally, there is not much to the song, but it is so much fun to perform.
Ages and ages ago, I was playing Kate in a community theatre production. I got to storm about the set, yelling, throwing things, hitting high Cs. It was a blast. I Hate Men was a highlight of the evening. One evening, there was a woman in the audience who had just signed her divorce papers that afternoon. She and some friends had gone out for dinner. She had had quite a bit to drink before they came to the show. As I was singing, I Hate Men, she stood up on her seat and shouted: “You tell ‘em, sister! Men are rats!” before her laughing friends could pull her back down. The joys of live theatre.
Have you ever seen Kiss Me, Kate? What about its source – The Taming of the Shrew? Do you have a performance story you’d be willing to share? Let me know in the comments below. I’ll be posting this and some of the other songs from Kiss Me, Kate this week on my Minnich Music FaceBook page this week, so be sure to check those out.
Until next time!
But for right now, I give you I Hate Men.
This is sung by Katherine in one of The Taming of the Shrew sections.
I hate men
I can’t abide them even now and then
Then ever marry one of them, I’d rest a virgin rather,
For husbands are a boring lot and only give you bother
Of course, I’m awfully glad that mother had to marry father,
Still, I hate men.
Of all the types of men I’ve met within our democracy
I hate the most the athlete with his manner bold and brassy
He may have hair upon his chest, but sister, so has Lassie
Oh, I hate men!
If thou shouldst wed a businessman, be wary, oh be wary
He’ll tell you he’s detained in town on business necessary
The business is the business that he gives his secretary!
Oh, I hate men!
I hate men!
Though roosters they, I will not play the hen
If you espouse an older man through girlish optimism
He’ll always stay at home and night and make no criticism
Though you may call it love, the doctors call is rheumatism
Oh, I hate men!
Of all I’ve read, alone in bed, from A to Zed about ‘em
Since love is blind, then from the mind, all womankind should rout ‘em
But, ladies, you must answer to, what would we do without ‘em?
Still I hate men!
There are other verses, but I think you get the idea. Every company adds some verses or takes some away. Vocally, there is not much to the song, but it is so much fun to perform.
Ages and ages ago, I was playing Kate in a community theatre production. I got to storm about the set, yelling, throwing things, hitting high Cs. It was a blast. I Hate Men was a highlight of the evening. One evening, there was a woman in the audience who had just signed her divorce papers that afternoon. She and some friends had gone out for dinner. She had had quite a bit to drink before they came to the show. As I was singing, I Hate Men, she stood up on her seat and shouted: “You tell ‘em, sister! Men are rats!” before her laughing friends could pull her back down. The joys of live theatre.
Have you ever seen Kiss Me, Kate? What about its source – The Taming of the Shrew? Do you have a performance story you’d be willing to share? Let me know in the comments below. I’ll be posting this and some of the other songs from Kiss Me, Kate this week on my Minnich Music FaceBook page this week, so be sure to check those out.
Until next time!
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