STAGE REVIEW : ‘Kiss Me Kate’ Isn’t Spry Youngster It Used to Be

Despite a few decent performances, the Grand Dinner Theatre’s “Kiss Me Kate” is only mildly engaging--sort of like getting a perfunctory peck on the cheek when you were hoping for a juicy one where it counts.

It’s not all director Brad Flanagan’s fault, or that of his cast. Cole Porter’s 1948 musical (book by Sam and Bella Spewack) has not traveled smoothly into its fourth decade. This sendup of romance, stage life and (mostly) Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”--filtered through a prism of battling stars, chorus gypsies and wise-guy mobsters--must have been inventive way back when.

But now, in a time when Shakespeare is even teased on TV (“Moonlighting” parodied “The Taming of the Shrew” a couple of seasons ago), this show often seems uninspired . . . and slow, especially at the outset. The Tony Award winner depends on flirting with the audience to keep it all going and the trouble is, there’s just not much left in the old girl.

Still, you do always feel like you are in the midst of a real, honest-to-God Broadway musical , mainly because of Porter’s bright score. These are songs familiar to many of us, and some are rather wonderful, like “Too Damn Hot,” “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” and “So in Love.”

During the production’s better moments, these numbers have life and meet the requirements of this most escapist of American entertainments. As the spunky actress Lilli playing the spunky shrew Kate, Tracey Williams has so much fun grimacing and tromping through “I Hate Men” that it’s easy to have fun with her. Williams does do a bit much with the antic facial expressions, but she’s still the best thing at the Grand.

There’s also comic spirit in Rusty Meyers’ and Michael Stern’s handling of the two hoods who come to collect a gambling debt and find themselves in all the stage chaos. The clever, slapsticky “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” (Porter’s gift for lyrics on full display) is meant to be a crowd grabber, and Meyers and Stern come through.

Patrick Culliton, however, is too stiff as Fred, Lilli’s former husband and her leading man in “The Taming of the Shrew.” His singing is able, but he never seems to connect with Lilli, which is crucial in getting us interested in their pyrotechnic relationship.

The rest of the cast is more workmanlike than anything else--the kind of thumping, jumping verve that marks most musicals but doesn’t amount to much more than liveliness. Jamie Torcellini’s choreography is also pretty routine, and Marty Burnett’s sets are merely adequate.

‘KISS ME KATE’

A Grand Dinner Theatre production of the Cole Porter/Sam and Bella Spewack musical. Directed by Brad Flanagan. With Patrick Culliton, Tracey Williams, April Ortiz, Belle Calaway, Peter Fitzgerald, Rusty Meyers, Michael Stern, Patrick Sullivan and George Pendill. Musical direction by William H. Lockwood. Choreography by Jamie Torcellini. Lighting by Christopher Hardt. Sets by Marty Burnett. Plays Tuesdays through Sundays through Feb. 5 with various times for the show and dinner. At the Grand Hotel, 7 Freedman Way, Anaheim. Tickets: $24-$32. (714) 772-7710.