University Theatre to End 2025-26 Run with Production of “Kiss Me, Kate"

University Theatre to end 2025-26 run with production of “Kiss Me, Kate”

YSU’s University Theatre will close the curtain on its 2025-26 season with the production of the Broadway musical “Kiss Me, Kate” April 16 – 19 at the YSU Ford Theater, located in YSU’s Bliss Hall.

“Kiss Me, Kate” is a backstage comedy inspired by William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.” The play follows a feuding pair of ex-spouses—both actors—as they navigate romantic rivalry, mob entanglements, and Shakespearean mischief over the course of one wild opening night.

In his director’s note, lecturer and director Adam Day Howard describes the show as “a lively collision” of love and art, where backstage chaos meets Shakespearean wit—all wrapped in a Cole Porter score. Rather than shying away from the show’s classic theatrical conventions, this production embraces them, celebrating theatre’s egos, romances, and “stubborn magic.”

Based on the book by Samuel and Bella Spewack, the show was originally produced on Broadway in 1948 and will feature a celebrated Porter score that includes jazz standards such as “Too Darn Hot,” “Wunderbar,” and “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”

The student cast for “Kiss Me, Kate” includes Ben Podnar, Wampum, PA; Maria Anastasiades, Warren, OH; Robert Channel, Austintown, OH; Natalie Horvath, Hubbard, OH; Alex Shina, Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Nate Perry, Geneva on the Lake, OH; Vixen Atwood, Canton, OH; Liam Burk, Youngstown, OH; Owen Mills, North Royalton, OH; Jessica Sprague, Norwalk, OH; Romerio Dawkins, North Olmsted, OH; Cadence Watson, East Liverpool, OH; Grace Burk, Youngstown, OH; Noah Dudai, New Middletown, OH; and Eric Ballard, Youngstown, OH.

The show will also see faculty and student crew members including associate professor Katherine Garlick as costume designer; Ellen Dayan as costume shop coordinator; Gunnar Carwile as technical director; Jon Zelezniak as lighting advisor; Helena Snyder (Austintown, OH) as stage manager; Adriana Rosario (Youngstown, OH) as assistant stage manager; Gianna D’Alesandro (Youngstown, OH) as lighting board operator; and Kurt Boggs (Warren, OH) as sound board operator.

Audiences can see “Kiss Me, Kate” Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 PM, and Sunday at 2:00 PM. Tickets may be purchased by visiting ysu.tix.com. Parking is available at the Wick Avenue Deck (M30) for a $5 fee payable in cash only.