(Michael Billington’s article appeared in the Guardian, 6/28.)
Cole Porter's cosmopolitan chic essentially belonged to the 1930s, but he enjoyed a late, great hit in 1948 with this backstage story: one that shows the battling relationship of the once-married Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham re-enacted as they play Kate and Petruchio in what someone here wittily, though perhaps anachronistically, dubs Shrew: the Musical. It's a glorious show that gets a pitch-perfect revival from Trevor Nunn and many of his regular musical team.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/jun/28/kiss-me-kate-chichester-review