Summary 
Superb modernization renders the battle of the sexes as a rock-and-roll beach party amid a tunnel of love, a fortune teller, a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel. Petruchio as a daredevil Elvis versus a fiery and beautiful restaurant-owner's-daughter Kate. Colorfully costumed, with an original rockabilly score played onstage by an excellent three-piece rock-and-roll band. Outstanding comedy; outstanding Shakespeare.
Design
Directed by David Ivers. Scenic design by Jo Winiarski. Costume design by Meg Neville. Lighting design by Jaymi Lee Smith. Video and projection design by Kristin Ellert. Compositions and sound design by Paul James Prendergast.
Cast
Ted Deasy (Petruchio), Robert Vincent Frank (Baptista), Tasso Feldman (Grumio), David Kelly (Gremio), Jeremy Peter Johnson (Hortensio), John Tufts (Tranio), Tyrone Wilson (Vincentio), Wayne T. Carr (Lucentio), Joe Wegner (Curtis), Nell Geisslinger (Kate), Royer Bockus (Bianca).
Analysis
David Ivers, artistic director of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, guest-directs a colorful beach-party The Taming of the Shrew for the Oregon Fest, set amidst a Coney Island-like amusement park in the early 1960s (but with some amusing contemporary splashes). The carnival boardwalk setting is fun but kind of seedy, with a red-light tunnel of love devil's mouth entrance stage right that belches smoke - and demonic admonitions against cell phone use - then a fortune teller's shop with a railed rooftop deck, and a projection screen ("Welcome to Padua") elevated upstage that shows waves crashing into the shore. The devil's mouth promises with an evil laugh that patrons leaving their seats during the performance will be re-seated "in hell" - "enjoy the ride!" - and an exceptional three-piece band plays original rockabilly from a deck over Baptista's hot-dog stand stage left: guitarist and bass player with drummer behind. Baptista's is a typical beach-front lunch counter with a rolling metal gate that comes down across a Formica counter, the purple neon sign above flickering and buzzing and sparking. The outer walls feature advertisements for Italian sausage, cotton candy, popcorn, and ice-cold drinks; inside are photographs of Italian celebrities like Brando, DeNiro, Pacino, and Stallone; and in the distance upstage are silhouettes of a roller coaster track and a Ferris wheel.
While the band - all tough-looking greasers - plays a sizzling blend of surfer rock and Jimmy Buffett roll, Ivers crowds the stage with summer tourists in a rainbow of color and noise, including a bicycle-cop in a helmet riding a Segway. All we need is Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello among the Bermuda shorts, Capri pants, blue jeans, Hawaiian shirts, big bulky Polaroid cameras and strappy sandals. Ivers excises the two Induction scenes, beginning 1.1 with the ugly-American arrival of Lucentio and Tranio. The two are a gaudy spectacle, Lucentio too-smooth and confident, posing in sunglasses and sky-blue sport coat as his servant Tranio - sockless in pink pants and carrying an overstuffed beach bag - snaps touristy photos of him. Lucentio must splash water in his face from a plastic beach bucket at the sight of Bianca, a ditzy blonde with a high-pitched squeal of a voice, wearing short - very short - shorts, and silver-spangled sneakers, on a beach chair reading Fifty Shades of Gray. One of Lucentio's competitors for Bianca's heart is a dorky dullard Gremio in slicked hair over a bald spot, black plastic glasses, knee-high black socks, too-loose-fitting belted khaki shorts, and a sweater tied over his shoulders in ancient-school preppy style. He is a mess. The other romantic rival is cool-dude Hortensio in jeans and punky black t-shirt, sneakers and sunglasses and hat. When Lucentio decides to trade places with Tranio so he can woo Bianca as a Latin tutor, they exchange clothes with knowing smirks as the band plays a rockabilly striptease number.
Ivers' overall production is stunning, from original music to colorful costumes to creative scenic design, as evidenced by the above description, all of which is from the very first scene of Shakespeare's play. Ivers' performers seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves as well - an invaluable intangible within the production of a comedy, especially John Tufts' Thurston Howell-infused rich-frat-boy impersonation, which has him sniffing and snuffing, fanning himself 1.2 with a wad of paper bills - "whatever should I do with all this extra cash?" - then blowing his nose into one bill and wiping a beach bench clean with another. He refers to Bianca in his nose-upturned harrumph as "Binaca" then "Beyonce" and by 4.2 her name has morphed to "Badonka" and "Burrito."
But no performance is quite as remarkable as Nell Geisslinger's fiery and beautiful Kate, a dark-haired and angry whirlwind with flashing eyes. She wears her Baptista's uniform of white slacks and royal blue pullover, but with rebellious yellow sneakers. She athletically launches herself over the counter at her sister's suitors, who cower and try to hide, and in 2.1 she hog-ties badonka Bianca like a dopey sheep, tickling her with a fish from a nearby bait bucket. When the suitors try to intervene, Geisslinger's s Kate hurls the fish at them. Her demeanor is outrage at injustice - at her father's doting affection for Bianca, at her sister's vacuous appeal, at the suitors' single- and simple-minded lust - with an underlying sense of deep hurt and longing, all within the physicality of her sister in opposite: a darker-haired black sheep, smaller, smarter, deeper.
Ted Deasy's Petruchio is a cross between an Evel Knievel motorcycle daredevil and a dissipated Elvis Presley impersonator, complete with rings on every finger, cowboy boots, reddish pompadour, and sleeves of tattoos down both arms. He arrives 1.2 with a Fonzie-like flourish of his arms that sends a flock of seagulls - on the projection screen above him - scurrying into the sky. His servant Grumio is a mini-me in tight striped trousers with chain belt, slicked hair and big sideburns, plus a vest, strutting with his chest puffed out. Deasy's Petruchio exudes confidence, calling Baptista "father" a bit prematurely, not even flinching when Hortensio returns from Kate with his guitar smashed over his head - "I long to have some...chat...with her" - and they meet with a long stare from across the stage that already indicates an acknowledgement of kindred spirit, if not (yet, anyway) a meeting of the minds. Their clash is energetically physical, a kind of rough-housing foreplay: he announces her over the public address system as "Kate the Cursed" and she jerks the microphone away; she slaps his face at "women are made to bear"; and he pins her between his knees - "whoopsie!" - but she gets him in a death grip at "my tongue in your tail." The back-and-forth is like a boxing match, and when he plays air guitar to taunt her, she grabs him by the pectorals; his struggle to get free tears her shirt and reveals an intricate sleeve of tattoos down her bared arm. The war of words becomes another kindred spirit moment in the sudden silence that is more a recognition than a victory or a capitulation.
Geisslinger's Kate finally responds with a flurry of fury, throwing a shoe at Petruchio, kissing Lucentio, and pouring popcorn over Bianca's head. She gives Petruchio a double "finger" and launches herself at his chest, but when Deasy's enthralled Petruchio merely catches her - "kiss me, Kate" - she turns and reaches like a child for her father, to be married on Sunday. The scene before the wedding, usually a time-filler, is in Ivers' hands a mini-triumph. Tuft's Tranio continues to feign romance of Bianca and her "booteous modesty," enduring the projected slide-show of Gremio's fortune, from tapestries and clothing, farms and cattle, past a compromising photo, to a luxurious yacht. His slam-dunk response is a projected slide of not one or two but three yachts, and he does a victory dance - "I got 99 problems but a ship ain't one" - as his master Lucentio secretly woos Bianca stage left. She accepts a kiss - "yay!" - but swats away Lucentio's roaming hands and giggles as her sister's wedding cake is wheeled in from upstage. Kate appears in her white dress, perhaps jilted at the altar, wielding a bottle of champagne like a weapon and seeming to look for ill-advised challengers. She removes her high-heels and gives her father an up-till-now uncharacteristic embrace of shared humiliation, the projection screen above showing a close-up of the embossed wedding invitation. When Deasy's open-road-muddied Petruchio finally arrives to the sound of a roaring Harley Davidson motorcycle like an early rock-and-roll star on tour, he refers to his "Hog" and "dirt" as his mistress, and he wears a mohawked motorcycle helmet and is followed by his roadie Grumio. The nuptials take place offstage - Kate: "bastardo!" - and soon Petruchio is dragging Kate bodily across the stage as she attempts to dig in with her heels ("Grumio, my Harley!"). After he pauses center stage for a handful of wedding cake - "father, be quiet!" - Grumio creates a diversion from atop the wedding cake table, firing squirt guns at the wedding party and into the audience as Deasy's Petruchio lifts Kate across his shoulder and exits. The band provides a rollicking rock-show finish to bring intermission.
Ivers wisely focuses the second half of the production on Kate and Petruchio, dwelling on 4.1, 4.3 and 4.5 and moving quickly through 4.2, with Hortensio peeling off his fake mustache ("ow!") to reveal his singing cowboy and mathematics tutor disguise, his guitar emblazoned with "2 + 2 = 4," and 4.4 with the "fake" Vincentio struggling to remember a name but inspired by the flickering neon buzz of the overhead sign: "Baptista!" Geisslinger's Kate is certainly the heart of the production, arriving exhausted 4.1 in a now muddy and tattered wedding gown, a sympathetic young woman despite her shrewish first act displays, and Deasy's Petruchio is the rebellious soul, explaining and almost rationalizing his taming tactics in a soliloquy, his voice somber, his eyes sad. Ivers' sense of contemporary humor is well on display 4.1 as Petruchio rails against his servants and details their duty to his new bride, only to find them all giggling as if within a Family Guy episode - "he said, 'doodie'" - and they sing the Beatles' She Loves Me as bride and groom sit at a table with a bucket of take-out chicken. Petruchio is of course garrulous - "the Extra Crispy is burnt" - and overly demanding - "where are my slippers?" - in a revealing display of shrewishness, and he nearly brings down the house with a casual aside: "what hast the Colonel done?" Geisslinger's Kate remains impervious, not yet recognizing the soul mate right in front of her. In 4.3 she chases Grumio with the empty chicken bucket, finally seizing him by the nipples as he walks backward on tip-toe, his voice several octaves higher than usual, and she nods off and falls asleep at the table while Petruchio pretends to argue with the tailor and the haberdasher about what is worthy of her. But in 4.5 she makes a dawning revelation, nodding slowly to the audience, her smile broadening, and when she falls to her knees in toying with the befuddled old Vincentio - "o fair virgin!" - Deasy's Petruchio recognizes the new bond they share, and he gently helps her to her feet.
After a snippet from the actual Vincentio's arrival and the discovery of Lucentio's plot - Tufts' Tranio simply faints dead away at the sight of him, while dorky Gremio pulls up one fallen black knee-sock - the remainder of the production is all Geisslinger and her re-energized "shrew." After she demures from kissing Petruchio in public 5.1, she changes her mind and stops him in his tracks, lowering him to his knees with a single finger and a sexy stare, then walking in a circle around him to deliver an erotically charged kiss to the back of his neck. She then moves around to stand in front of him, eases his forehead back with her index finger, and leans close to lick his face in femme fatale feline fashion, leaving him awestruck and sort of laughing, groaning and moaning, all at the same time.
Ivers fills the stage for a 5.2 beach party, sans Frankie and Annette but featuring coolers filled with crushed ice and beer bottles. Lawn chairs are set up and the band plays island-style Jimmy Buffet-like rock-and-roll, segueing into a rockabilly tango as Tranio dances with Biondello, she a half-head taller than him. The newlyweds arrive happily, including so-slick Lucentio and his trophyish Bianca in matching lime green, but all are upstaged a bit by Deasy's Petruchio in a tight black tuxedo and zebra-striped boots. He holds Kate's chair for her like a true gentleman, and they share an appreciative smile as heads turn and guests gaze with wonder at Geisslinger's Kate, she wearing the tailor's perfectly fitting sleeveless white dress with its wild splash of red flowers - her armful of tattoos clearly visible and worn as proudly as Petruchio wears his own - along with chunky red high heels and the crimson hat from the 4.3 haberdasher.
The husbands' wager is of course won by Petruchio - Kate arriving quickly upon command, causing Lucentio to fall flailing flat on his back, as if dead - and prompts wonderment from her father: "she is changed." But Geisslinger's Kate gives the concluding speech with a smart touch of irony - allegiance is a two-way street - and when she moves downstage to place her hand under Petruchio's boot, he is quick to drop to his knees, take her hand in his, and hold it against his heart. She does the same, and they share a concluding kiss, embracing each other's hands and then rising to acknowledge the audience's standing ovation. When roadies sidle up to the stage, they hand both Deasy and Geisslinger acoustic guitars, and to the audience's delight, the two strum and sing a lovebirds' duet, accompanied by the elevated house band, and Ivers concludes the production with Kate and her Petruchio turning upstage in increasing darkness to watch a colorful fireworks display on the projected screen. In a beautifully fitting final tableau, they reach out at the same time for each other, and the play ends with them holding hands, side by side, watching fireworks light up the sky.