Kiss Me Kate
at San Juan Hills

Reviewed on April 27, 2019

Tiffany Esparza
Tesoro
Submitted for publication to OC Register

San Juan Hills' "Kiss Me Kate" Is Too Darn Hot
written by Tiffany Esparza, a senior at Tesoro High School

Vivacious dancing, Shakespeare, and a couple of gangsters all mix together in San Juan's "Kiss Me Kate." As infamous actress Lilli Vanessi stars in a show with her ex-husband, Fred Graham, things become a little more complicated. She finds herself being held ransom to the theatre; alas, the show must go on!

Beaming with spunk, Jenna Husli plays Lilli Vanessi/Kate. Angrily storming on stage, she hurls a bouquet of flowers straight at Fred Graham (Zain Faruqi). Annoyance fills her face as she begrudgingly enters the stage, face frowned and arms crossed. With refusal to kiss him, she tries to find a way out but is left trapped during "Kiss Me Kate." Running on stage, she smiles with arms wide open with the realization that she loves Fred and finally kisses him.

Cunning and sly, Faruqi throws is finger up with the idea of holding Lilli hostage. Sauntering on stage with a whip following behind him, suddenly, he cracks it in order to maintain Lilli. While performing as Petruchio, he rolls his shoulders back and extends his arms in confidence.

Skye Fielder livens the stage as Harry Trevor/Baptista. Twirling, he enters using large arm gestures. When he realizes Lilli is not on stage, nervously he laughs, looks at the audience, then spins around stage in order to exit.

Tackling not only the show, but the show within the show, the set is designed by Sierra Young. The stage doors are an impressive two level set piece with a spiral staircase connecting the two. On the other side, a hidden staircase is put in in order for Bill Calhoun (Michael Liebig) to go from one door to another in "Always True to You In My Fashion." The set then gets shifted out for the village scenery for the show within the show with multiple doors for ensemble to enter through along with a centering fountain.

Illuminating the stage, Olivia Price and Ty Birtles are lighting designers. Distinguishing the difference between Fred's and Lilli's dressing rooms, she lights one half with blue and the other with pink. Representing the lights going out, white lights blink during "Too Darn Hot."

Bold characters and impressive technical elements combine in SJHHS production of "Kiss Me Kate".

Tiffany Esparza
Tesoro
Submitted for publication to OC Register

San Juan Hills' "Kiss Me Kate" Is Too Darn Hot
written by Tiffany Esparza, a senior at Tesoro High School

Vivacious dancing, Shakespeare, and a couple of gangsters all mix together in San Juan's "Kiss Me Kate." As infamous actress Lilli Vanessi stars in a show with her ex-husband, Fred Graham, things become a little more complicated. She finds herself being held ransom to the theatre; alas, the show must go on!

Beaming with spunk, Jenna Husli plays Lilli Vanessi/Kate. Angrily storming on stage, she hurls a bouquet of flowers straight at Fred Graham (Zain Faruqi). Annoyance fills her face as she begrudgingly enters the stage, face frowned and arms crossed. With refusal to kiss him, she tries to find a way out but is left trapped during "Kiss Me Kate." Running on stage, she smiles with arms wide open with the realization that she loves Fred and finally kisses him.

Cunning and sly, Faruqi throws is finger up with the idea of holding Lilli hostage. Sauntering on stage with a whip following behind him, suddenly, he cracks it in order to maintain Lilli. While performing as Petruchio, he rolls his shoulders back and extends his arms in confidence.

Skye Fielder livens the stage as Harry Trevor/Baptista. Twirling, he enters using large arm gestures. When he realizes Lilli is not on stage, nervously he laughs, looks at the audience, then spins around stage in order to exit.

Tackling not only the show, but the show within the show, the set is designed by Sierra Young. The stage doors are an impressive two level set piece with a spiral staircase connecting the two. On the other side, a hidden staircase is put in in order for Bill Calhoun (Michael Liebig) to go from one door to another in "Always True to You In My Fashion." The set then gets shifted out for the village scenery for the show within the show with multiple doors for ensemble to enter through along with a centering fountain.

Illuminating the stage, Olivia Price and Ty Birtles are lighting designers. Distinguishing the difference between Fred's and Lilli's dressing rooms, she lights one half with blue and the other with pink. Representing the lights going out, white lights blink during "Too Darn Hot."

Bold characters and impressive technical elements combine in SJHHS production of "Kiss Me Kate".

Carlie McCleary
San Clemente
Submitted for publication to OC Facebook

San Juan's "Kiss Me, Kate" is too darn hot
written by Carlie McCleary, a senior at San Clemente High School

It may be "just another op'nin" for San Juan Hills High School, but "Kiss Me, Kate" is far from just another show. Exploring the concept of a show-within-a-show, Lilli Vanessi stars in a musical adaptation of "Taming of the Shrew." When her ex-husband accidentally sends her flowers meant for another woman, she revolts in jealous rage and rewrites the script of both the premiering musical and the misogyny in the 1940s.

Jenna Husli commands the stage as Lilli Vanessi/Kate, portraying the sassy heroine with unwavering strength and humor. Whether aggressively wrestling Fred with flowers and a whip in hand or singing a ballad of love with beautiful vibrato, Husli is versatile and dynamic, carefully capturing the wonders and woes of falling in love again.

Complementing Husli's vivacity, Zain Faruqi as Fred Graham/Petruchio adopts a compelling stage presence in his intelligent gaze and witty banter. With proud posture, a ringing baritone, and intentionally overdramatic facials, Faruqi exudes charisma as both the haughty Petruchio and his offstage counterpart, Fred Graham.

Hanna Berkompas as Lois Lane/Bianca owns the stage with pep and glamour, plastering a blank smile and walking with a energetic stride. With a brassy belt in tow, Berkompas encapsulates the classic "dumb blonde" trope with newfound versatility. However, her lovestruck duet with Bill (Michael Liebig) in "Why Can't You Behave" highlights her hope for their new adventures on the Great White Way.

Michael Liebig is a highlight as the chronically-late, gambling-prone Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, who tap-dances into Lois' heart. Singing with an irresistible tenor and sauntering with a suave gait, Liebig encapsulates the naive confidence of a young lover in "Bianca."

Lighting (Olivia Price and Ty Birtles) highlights the rising temperature of "Too Darn Hot" with blinking white-hot lights on an empty stage. Working together harmoniously with Set Design (Sierra Young), Price and Birtles use pink and blue lights to delineate between the mirrored dressing rooms of LIlli and Fred respectively.

Ashlynn Desco's publicity design creates an astounding reversible program with a fictional playbill for "The Taming of the Shrew" on the back. Coupled with many instagram posts and live takeovers, Desco highlights the joys of "Kiss Me, Kate" to audiences both online and at the theater.

Complete with impressive tech, beautiful voices, and physical comedy galore, San Juan Hills' "Kiss Me, Kate" dazzles audiences in an "Op'nin" for the ages.

Carlie McCleary
San Clemente
Submitted for publication to OC Facebook

San Juan's "Kiss Me, Kate" is too darn hot
written by Carlie McCleary, a senior at San Clemente High School

It may be "just another op'nin" for San Juan Hills High School, but "Kiss Me, Kate" is far from just another show. Exploring the concept of a show-within-a-show, Lilli Vanessi stars in a musical adaptation of "Taming of the Shrew." When her ex-husband accidentally sends her flowers meant for another woman, she revolts in jealous rage and rewrites the script of both the premiering musical and the misogyny in the 1940s.

Jenna Husli commands the stage as Lilli Vanessi/Kate, portraying the sassy heroine with unwavering strength and humor. Whether aggressively wrestling Fred with flowers and a whip in hand or singing a ballad of love with beautiful vibrato, Husli is versatile and dynamic, carefully capturing the wonders and woes of falling in love again.

Complementing Husli's vivacity, Zain Faruqi as Fred Graham/Petruchio adopts a compelling stage presence in his intelligent gaze and witty banter. With proud posture, a ringing baritone, and intentionally overdramatic facials, Faruqi exudes charisma as both the haughty Petruchio and his offstage counterpart, Fred Graham.

Hanna Berkompas as Lois Lane/Bianca owns the stage with pep and glamour, plastering a blank smile and walking with a energetic stride. With a brassy belt in tow, Berkompas encapsulates the classic "dumb blonde" trope with newfound versatility. However, her lovestruck duet with Bill (Michael Liebig) in "Why Can't You Behave" highlights her hope for their new adventures on the Great White Way.

Michael Liebig is a highlight as the chronically-late, gambling-prone Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, who tap-dances into Lois' heart. Singing with an irresistible tenor and sauntering with a suave gait, Liebig encapsulates the naive confidence of a young lover in "Bianca."

Lighting (Olivia Price and Ty Birtles) highlights the rising temperature of "Too Darn Hot" with blinking white-hot lights on an empty stage. Working together harmoniously with Set Design (Sierra Young), Price and Birtles use pink and blue lights to delineate between the mirrored dressing rooms of LIlli and Fred respectively.

Ashlynn Desco's publicity design creates an astounding reversible program with a fictional playbill for "The Taming of the Shrew" on the back. Coupled with many instagram posts and live takeovers, Desco highlights the joys of "Kiss Me, Kate" to audiences both online and at the theater.

Complete with impressive tech, beautiful voices, and physical comedy galore, San Juan Hills' "Kiss Me, Kate" dazzles audiences in an "Op'nin" for the ages.

Sophia Burick
San Clemente
Submitted for publication to OC Facebook

San Juan Hills High School's Kiss Me Kate highlights the hilarious havoc of opening night
written by Sophia Burick, a junior at San Clemente High School

In a playful performance teeming with irony and wit, San Juan Hills High School's Kiss Me, Kate brings to life the orchestrated chaos that comes with the opening night of a show. Lilli Vanessi (Jenna Husli), moody movie star, and her egotistical ex-husband, Fred Graham (Zain Faruqi), are co-starring in a production of Taming the Shrew. As beautiful young actress Lois Lane (Hanna Berkompas), her bumbling boyfriend Bill Calhoun (Michael Liebig), and a couple of angry gangsters (Chris Lemus and Ewan Herd) enter the stage, relationships spark and explode in a truly Shakespearean manner.

With a voice fit for a star and an attitude fit for a diva, Husli's Lilli Vanessi is the driving force in the show, with her disagreeability only intensifying as she assumes the role of Kate, a decidedly disagreeable woman whose father is desperately trying to marry her off. Husli expertly characterizes Lilli/Kate as a force to be reckoned with through a rowdy cocktail of physical aggression and blood-curdling shrieks. Her hilariously bitter rendition of "I Hate Men" emphasizes Lilli/Kate's untameability through her deliciously deadpan humor and savage hostility towards all possible suitors.

Faruqi's Fred desperately attempts to keep his runaway train production of Taming of the Shrew on track by entertaining his audience with comically awkward improvisation to account for Lilli/Kate's unpredictability. Faruqi's electric relationship with Husli only heightens the tension, creating near-cataclysmic conflicts as the drama on and offstage escalates.

The laughably loose relationship between Berkompas's Lois and Liebig's Bill infuses extra scandal in the show, with Berkompas's flirtatiously ditzy persona causing problems left and right. The entrance of Lemus and Herd's duo of gunmen adds comic urgency to the show, fueled by their amusingly dynamic chemistry.

The costumes, designed by Lila Holley and Kellan Jenner, are instrumental in defining the setting of each scene, with each character alternating between old-fashioned workout clothes and delightful Renaissance dress to signify the shift between offstage scenes and those within the production of Taming of the Shrew. Creative lighting design by Olivia Price and Ty Birtles directs the audience's attention to points of interest during overwhelmingly chaotic scenes and numbers.

San Juan Hills High School's Kiss Me, Kate uses delicious drama and hilarious banter to paint a picture of an ill-fated musical moving rapidly downhill.

Sophia Burick
San Clemente
Submitted for publication to OC Facebook

San Juan Hills High School's Kiss Me Kate highlights the hilarious havoc of opening night
written by Sophia Burick, a junior at San Clemente High School

In a playful performance teeming with irony and wit, San Juan Hills High School's Kiss Me, Kate brings to life the orchestrated chaos that comes with the opening night of a show. Lilli Vanessi (Jenna Husli), moody movie star, and her egotistical ex-husband, Fred Graham (Zain Faruqi), are co-starring in a production of Taming the Shrew. As beautiful young actress Lois Lane (Hanna Berkompas), her bumbling boyfriend Bill Calhoun (Michael Liebig), and a couple of angry gangsters (Chris Lemus and Ewan Herd) enter the stage, relationships spark and explode in a truly Shakespearean manner.

With a voice fit for a star and an attitude fit for a diva, Husli's Lilli Vanessi is the driving force in the show, with her disagreeability only intensifying as she assumes the role of Kate, a decidedly disagreeable woman whose father is desperately trying to marry her off. Husli expertly characterizes Lilli/Kate as a force to be reckoned with through a rowdy cocktail of physical aggression and blood-curdling shrieks. Her hilariously bitter rendition of "I Hate Men" emphasizes Lilli/Kate's untameability through her deliciously deadpan humor and savage hostility towards all possible suitors.

Faruqi's Fred desperately attempts to keep his runaway train production of Taming of the Shrew on track by entertaining his audience with comically awkward improvisation to account for Lilli/Kate's unpredictability. Faruqi's electric relationship with Husli only heightens the tension, creating near-cataclysmic conflicts as the drama on and offstage escalates.

The laughably loose relationship between Berkompas's Lois and Liebig's Bill infuses extra scandal in the show, with Berkompas's flirtatiously ditzy persona causing problems left and right. The entrance of Lemus and Herd's duo of gunmen adds comic urgency to the show, fueled by their amusingly dynamic chemistry.

The costumes, designed by Lila Holley and Kellan Jenner, are instrumental in defining the setting of each scene, with each character alternating between old-fashioned workout clothes and delightful Renaissance dress to signify the shift between offstage scenes and those within the production of Taming of the Shrew. Creative lighting design by Olivia Price and Ty Birtles directs the audience's attention to points of interest during overwhelmingly chaotic scenes and numbers.

San Juan Hills High School's Kiss Me, Kate uses delicious drama and hilarious banter to paint a picture of an ill-fated musical moving rapidly downhill.