The audience at "Kiss Me Kate" will get to see two plays in one showing.

The musical is a play within a play as the storyline revolves around the lives of the actors performing in a musical version of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew."

"Kiss Me Kate" opens Sunday as the first Summerset Theatre show of the season in the Frank W. Bridges Theatre at Riverland Community College in Austin.

"It's very, very fun, great music," said director James Douglass of Rochester.

"Kiss Me Kate" takes place in the late 1940s and Fred Graham, played by Scot A. Schwark of Rochester, is director and an actor in the new musical version of "The Taming of the Shrew." He casts his ex-wife, Lilli Vanessi, as the lead, playing Katherine Minola or "the shrew." Lilli is played by Raquel J.S. Nelson.

The backstage interactions of the actors and stagehands begin to complicate their Baltimore opening. Eventually their lives and the lives of their characters begin to mirror one another.

Schwark said he enjoys playing Fred.

"I knew the show was a challenge," Schwark said.

Lia Culbert plays Lois Lane, an actress who will do anything to get to Broadway. Lois plays Bianca Minola in the "Shrew" performance.

"She's a tramp," Culbert says matter-of-factly about her character. "She's the token ditzy blond of the 50s style musicals."

During the play, tensions arise between Lois and Lilli as they fight for Frank's attention.

Older audience members will be familiar with Cole Porter songs, such as "Wunderbar" and "Too Darn Hot," but the show should appeal to all ages, Douglass said.

"It's fast and jazzy, so I think it's going to appeal to a younger audience as well," he said.

Two more Summerset Theatre plays are scheduled for July. "Art" will be performed July 9-12 and "Our Town" will be shown July 23-26.

"Kiss Me Kate" opens at 7 p.m. Sunday and continues at 7:30 p.m. Monday through June 21. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Riverland Box Office or Nemitz's/Black Bart's.

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at cari.quam@austindailyherald.com