The Taming of the Shrew steps forward and speaks directly to the audience as herself; "Well, I must own, it wounds me to the Heart/To play, unwomanly, so mean a Part./What – to submit, so tamely – so contented,/Thank Heav'n! I'm not the Thing I represented." Cole Porter's musical "Kiss Me, Kate" is an adaptation of "Taming of the Shrew". The music and lyrics are by Porter and the book is by Samuel and Bella Spewack. It is at least partially based on the 1935/1936 Theatre Guild production of "Taming of the Shrew", which starred husband and wife Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, whose backstage
The Taming of the Shrew in performance ultimately decided against it "because the actual words in the old edition are so corrupt as to be illiterate." In a 1935 production starring Catherine Lacey and Neil Porter, director Ben Iden Payne became the first to use the "A Shrew" epilogue in a performance of "The Shrew" at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, with Roy Byford initially playing Sly, followed by Jay Laurier. Both actors received excellent reviews for their performances. The most successful early-twentieth century staging was the 1935/1936 Theatre Guild production, which began on Broadway and subsequently toured all over North America. Starring husband and wife Alfred Lunt