#sam spewack

[80smovies]

[theoscarsproject]

Kiss Me Kate (1953). An ex-husband and wife team star in a musical version of 'The Taming of the Shrew'; off-stage, the production is troublesome with ex-lovers' quarrels and a gangster looking for some money owed to them.

This is a pretty fun, albeit dated rom com, due in no small part to the chemistry between Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel and the bright, bold art direction. The whole thing is generous and playful, and it culminates in a compelling adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous play. That said, the parts that are dated are, well, really dated, particularly the spanking scene. 7/10.

[thesobsister]

Ensemble, “Another Op’nin Another Show”

From the 1999 revival of Kiss Me Kate, the West End production headed by Rachel York, filmed in 2002. This, its opening number and a classic of the “song about the theater” subgenre.

[papermoon4]

March 25 - Bella Spewack

Happy Broadway Birthday to Bella Spewack!

She was born Bella Cohen in Bucharest, Romania, in 1899. Her family came to American when she was a child. After a public school education, she became a journalist. In 1922 she married writer Samuel Spewack, taking his surname. From their marriage until 1926 they lived and worked in Moscow, Russia. When they returned they settled in New Hope, PA, a place where many theatre artists lived, and Bella and Sam started writing plays. Their Broadway debut was working with George Jessel on the 1928 play “The War Song.” Over the course of their career, the husband and wife team wrote a dozen plays and musicals for Broadway, most of which had political themes, some even set in Russia. They collaborated with producer / director George Abbott on “Boy Meets Girl” which opened in 1935 but was revived in 1943 and 1976. Their 1933 Soviet-set comedy “Clear All Wires” was made into the Cole Porter musical “Leave It To Me!” in 1938 with Bella and Sam adapting their own play for the musical's book. The pair were nominated for an Oscar for the 1940 Cary Grant film “My Favorite Wife.” Back on Broadway, they once again teamed with Porter on the phenomenally successful “Kiss Me, Kate” in 1948. The original book they wrote also incorporated elements of Shakespeare's “The Taming of the Shrew.” For the off-stage portion of the story, they used their own turbulent marriage for inspiration. They were the recipients of the 1949 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, the very first time the Award was given out. The musical is in almost constant production worldwide, with Broadway revivals in 1955 and 1999. For the 1999 production, playwright John Guare made uncredited revisions to the book, with permission of the Spewack estate. They adapted a French play into “My 3 Angels” in 1953 which was made into the film “We're No Angels” in 1955. Going back to their fondness for Russia, they wrote a play titled “Once There Was A Russian” in 1961. Frank Loesser musicalized the play as “Pleasures and Palaces” but neither the musical, nor the source material made it to the Great White Way. The Spewack's last original play for Broadway was “Festival” in 1955 starring Paul Henried. It lasted just 23 performances. Sam died in 1971 leaving her a widow until her death at the age of 91.