"KATE" is 102 today!
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:21 pm
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Patricia Morison, who was born on March 19, 1915, turns 102 years young today!
It's such a pity that no one seems to remember Patricia today. But on December 30, 1948, the raven-haired beauty opened in what would become her greatest triumph: Playing Lili Vanessi ("Kate") in the Cole Porter musical "Kiss Me, Kate."
"Kiss Me, Kate" became a major hit on Broadway, running for 1,077 performances at the New Century Theatre and then the Shubert. After Broadway, the show moved to London, where it played for another 400 performances. It is not necessary to remind you denizens of the Chicago Spanking Review that "Kiss Me, Kate" contains the most famous spanking scene in theater history. Patricia Morison surely (don't call me Shirley!) did not take the spankings in all 1,477 shows -- she was probably replaced by stand-ins for at least some of them. But she was so much the star of the show, it is inconceivable that she was replaced often. And just think of the rehearsals: In my feverish mind, I can imagine the director telling the replacement Petruchio, with Patricia Morison over his lap, to "bring a little more heat, this spanking has got to look real."
Of course, Miss Morison was the star of other Broadway shows, in particular her famous teaming with Yul Brynner in "The King and I." My own reminiscences of Miss Morison (I'm using the honorific "Miss" rather than "Ms." because Morison never married) begin with her work in the very last of the Basil Rathbone "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries, "Dressed to Kill" in 1946. With apologies to Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, Miss Morison was the very best thing in that film.
Someone on this board, probably Web-ed himself, posted a glowing tribute to Maureen O'Hara in memory of her work in "McLintock!". I humbly submit that Patricia Morison -- the very first Lili Vanessi/Kate -- is deserving of recognition here also.
Cheers,
Dan
Patricia Morison, who was born on March 19, 1915, turns 102 years young today!
It's such a pity that no one seems to remember Patricia today. But on December 30, 1948, the raven-haired beauty opened in what would become her greatest triumph: Playing Lili Vanessi ("Kate") in the Cole Porter musical "Kiss Me, Kate."
"Kiss Me, Kate" became a major hit on Broadway, running for 1,077 performances at the New Century Theatre and then the Shubert. After Broadway, the show moved to London, where it played for another 400 performances. It is not necessary to remind you denizens of the Chicago Spanking Review that "Kiss Me, Kate" contains the most famous spanking scene in theater history. Patricia Morison surely (don't call me Shirley!) did not take the spankings in all 1,477 shows -- she was probably replaced by stand-ins for at least some of them. But she was so much the star of the show, it is inconceivable that she was replaced often. And just think of the rehearsals: In my feverish mind, I can imagine the director telling the replacement Petruchio, with Patricia Morison over his lap, to "bring a little more heat, this spanking has got to look real."
Of course, Miss Morison was the star of other Broadway shows, in particular her famous teaming with Yul Brynner in "The King and I." My own reminiscences of Miss Morison (I'm using the honorific "Miss" rather than "Ms." because Morison never married) begin with her work in the very last of the Basil Rathbone "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries, "Dressed to Kill" in 1946. With apologies to Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, Miss Morison was the very best thing in that film.
Someone on this board, probably Web-ed himself, posted a glowing tribute to Maureen O'Hara in memory of her work in "McLintock!". I humbly submit that Patricia Morison -- the very first Lili Vanessi/Kate -- is deserving of recognition here also.
Cheers,
Dan