It's a case of Another Op'nin, Another Show at Hampstead Town Hall as the cast of the Barbican's big summer musical rehearse their song and dance routines.
Cole Porter's classic song about showbiz life is the opening number of Kiss Me Kate, which revolves around warring exes putting on a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.
Playing at the arts centre in Silk Street from June 4, it stars Highgate actor Adrian Dunbar as the show's director and star Fred Graham, embroiled in a love-hate relationship with leading lady and ex-wife Lilli Vanessi, played by Broadway icon Stephanie J Block.
The cast of Kiss Me Kate rehearse at Hampstead Town Hall in Haverstock Hill (Image: Danny Kaan)
West End leads Charlie Stemp and Georgina Onuorah also star in the 1948 golden age Broadway musical, whose songs include It's Too Darn Hot and So In Love.
When the Ham&High caught up with Line of Duty star Dunbar earlier this year to ask him about starring in his first musical amid rumours of a full cast tap number, he said: "Ah that will be interesting. I do like to get up and have a bit of a dance, but this will be breaking new ground."
Dunbar, who is well known for being able to hold a tune, added: "I am very excited about being at the Barbican for the whole summer and raring to go, I will probably end up like a stick insect. It's going to be pretty full on, but I have always loved musicals and wanted to do one, and was given this chance by Bart Sher."
Jordan Crouch, Charlie Stemp and Carl Au rehearse Kiss Me Kate (Image: Danny Kaan)
Bartlett Sher, whose Broadway credits include To Kill a Mockingbird, My Fair Lady, and The King & I, told the press during a sneak peek at rehearsals it was a "remarkable show that was ahead of its time".
"I have worked on many musicals and it's a complicated, messy, beautiful, fun and extraordinary piece - a crazy combination of a backstage musical and Shakespeare as it's understood by people in the 1940s in Baltimore, and the amazing music of Cole Porter," he said.
Before the cast broke into song in the main hall on Haverstock Hill, he said the opening number will start at the Barbican with the house lights up and an actor sweeping the stage.
He added: "You come into a working rehearsal, see people warming up and getting ready. It's fascinating and not like anything else. You don't even realise it's starting until you are in the middle of it."
Kiss Me Kate runs at The Barbican from June 4 until September 14. Visit www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/kiss-me-kate
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