A not-so-blithe ‘Kiss Me Kate’

It’s great when your co-writer is a genius, especially when he’s dead. In 1948, Cole Porter teamed up with Shakespeare to suss the trouble men and women make when they can’t decide whether to throw a kiss or a punch. “Kiss Me Kate,” Porter’s giddy reworking of “Taming of the Shrew” is now on the boards at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities’ glossy, broad rendition.

With more bounce than wit, director-choreographer Dan Mojica’s production brings plenty of energy but little surprise to this Broadway chestnut that features the standards “Too Darn Hot,” “So in Love,” “Always True to You in My Fashion” and “Why Can’t You Behave.”

Porter and book writers Sam and Bella Spewack added a twist to the familiar backstage comedy genre by embedding a war of the exes within Shakespeare’s classic gender siege. Former stage couple Fred Graham (Kevin Bailey) and Lilli Vanessi (Michelle Duffy) have been reunited -- professionally, at least -- to star in a new musical version of “Taming of the Shrew.”

The sparks are still there but so are the scars, and after one of their blowout fights, Lilli’s ready to run off with her MacArthur-esque military hunk (Jeff Griggs). And why not, since Fred’s been putting in extra rehearsal time with the show’s dizzy ingénue, Lois Lane (Lesli Margherita, not trusting her talent enough), who can’t quite commit to her gambler beau Bill (John Bisom). When two thugs (Herschel Sparber and Jeffrey Landman) show up to collect Bill’s latest IOU -- which he signed using Fred’s name -- Lilli becomes a hostage while they wait for the box office to pay off.

As for the leads, Bailey offers plenty of presence, but a recent stint in “Annie Get Your Gun” seems to have left plenty of Frank Butler in his Fred Graham, and Bailey’s outdoor twang seems slightly at odds with his Noel Coward jokes. Duffy could amp up her inner diva and still keep us on her side, since she’s equally appealing singing the luscious “So in Love” and the (literally) house-downing “I Hate Men.”

But these sparring exes aren’t afraid to throw each other around and, if anything, “Kate” remind us just how sharply modern “Shrew” feels.

Still, Mojica’s production made me wonder why most musicals tend to be directed toward the bottom half of an audience’s IQ. Old-school doesn’t have to mean dumbed down. Porter’s puckish work trips down memory lane with a bit of arthritis, and it can stumble on its endless puns and double-entendres without graceful assistance. “Kiss Me Kate” calls for a blithe spirit, not an elbow in the ribs.

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‘Kiss Me Kate’

Where: Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach

Blvd., Redondo Beach

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through

Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and

Sundays

Ends: Oct. 14

Price: $45 to $60

Contact: (310) 372-4477 or

www.civiclightopera.com

Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes