Pine Crest’s annual high school musical is coming up; this year the show is Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate, which is the story of a production of a musical version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The plot revolves around the tension between producer and star Fred Graham and his ex-wife and co-star Lilli Vanessi, but “the show must go on,” even after gangsters and the military get involved.

At the helm of this production is dance teacher Mrs. Boyd, with chorus teacher Mr. Testa as the musical director and band teacher Mr. Roth as the pit conductor. The cast includes Rodrigo Torrejon as Fred Graham/Petruchio, Noa Weiner as Lilli Vanessi/Kate, Nicole Phillips as Lois Lane/Bianca, Chase Anderson as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, Nicholas Tosello as General Harrison Howell, Zachary Shevin & Will Prevor as the gangsters, Mark Rozencwaig as Hortensio, Sebastian Rukes as Gremio, Madison Mazer as Hattie, Will Gershman as Pops, Cayleigh Pine as Ruth, and Sammy Koolik as Paul.

Rehearsals began two months ago, and senior Noa Weiner said things are going well: “Working on the show seemed daunting at first, but I’m so happy to be a part of this talented cast. We have been working really hard to make Kiss Me, Kate the best it can be.” Weiner and the rest of the Kiss Me, Kate cast are looking forward to the performance in November and they hope everyone can go out and see it.

Pine Crest students, families, and faculty can watch Kiss Me, Kate on November 11th and 12th (Friday and Saturday) at 7:00 p.m. in Stacy Auditorium, and no ticket is necessary.