Maplewood Talent Performing at NJPAC in 'Kiss Me, Kate'

Maplewood will be contributing some local talent to the upcoming production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate at NJPAC through July 24.

Alex Thompson, 17, who just graduated from Columbia High School, will be playing the role of Paul in Kiss Me, Kate. It's just another step on the path to fame for the shy youngster: When Alex was only four years old, his parents put him in a performance theater class, "because I was really timid." 

Today, he said, he's still reserved — but is a different person when on stage. "I'm more animated," he said. "It's just where I wanted to be; where my home is."

Alex has been studying at the (now located in Maplewood behind Millstone) for 13 years now. This fall, he is off to Syracuse University, where he will major in musical theater. He has danced with the Zaman Dance Theatre, Inspirational Dance Company and Columbia High School’s Special Dance Company.   

Katelyn Siobhan Hidalgo and Kelsey Mulgrew of Maplewood are both in the orchestra, which is comprised of professionals and students. 

Kiss Me, Kate combines Cole Porter’s music and lyrics with Shakespeare’s comedy, The Taming of the Shrew. The show proved to be Porter’s biggest hit, running for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway and winning the first Tony Award for Best Musical in 1949. The show is a “play within-a-play,” and each cast member’s onstage life is complicated by what is happening offstage. The score features classic Porter tunes like “Too Darn Hot,” “Another Op’nin,’ Another Show,” “So in Love,” and “Always True to You (in my Fashion).”

Kiss Me, Kate is a collaboration between NJPAC and New Jersey Youth Theatre of Westfield, and features a multi-cultural cast of 29 highly-trained New Jersey actors and 26 orchestra musicians from Bergen County in the north to Gloucester County in the south. The program prepares aspiring performers and technicians for the professional theater. Sets, props and wardrobe operations will be in the hands of professionals assisted by technical interns in each area.

Remaining dates for Kiss Me, Kate takes NJPAC’s Victoria Theater stage: July 17th at 2 p.m.; July 20th at 12:30 p.m.; July 21st at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.; July 22-23rd at 7:30 p.m. and July 24th at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $20-$30 and are available by telephone at 1-888-GO-NJPAC (1-888-466-5722), at the NJPAC Box Office at One Center Street in downtown Newark, or by visiting the www.njpac.org.