"It is 1948, and at the Ford Theatre in Baltimore, a theatre company are preparing for the opening night of a new musical based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. They are led by impresario Fred Graham who is not only directing and producing the show, but also starring as the romantic lead Petruchio.

 

Controversially he has hired his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi to perform opposite him as the titular ‘shrew’, Katherina. Both have seemingly moved on, with Fred having an affair with the young actress Lois Lane, who is playing Katherina’s sister Bianca, and Lilli recently engaged to war veteran General Harrison Howell. The estranged couple fight constantly, but as they reminisce together in their dressing room, it becomes clear that they still have feelings for each other. 

 

Meanwhile Lois’s other love interest Bill Calhoun, who plays the role of Lucentio, has got into a spot of trouble while gambling with a gangland boss, and has signed an IOU for $10,000, using Fred’s name instead of his own. When two gangsters show up at the theatre to collect the debt from Fred he claims to have never signed the IOU and so they leave. When a bouquet of flowers from Fred is delivered to Lilli’s dressing room, she realises that she is still deeply in love with him. Little does she know that the flowers were in fact intended for Lois. 

 

The performance of The Taming of the Shrew begins..."