Meet Fred Graham, an egotistical actor and director with a big Broadway show about to open. He also just happens to co-star in this musical opposite his ex-wife, Lilli Vanessi. The pair bickers backstage, while Fred’s new fling, Lois Lane, pines for another actor in the show, Bill Calhoun. Now, Bill loves to gamble and, unbeknownst to Fred, has signed Fred’s name to a hefty IOU debt that gangsters are about to come collect. Meanwhile, Fred’s flowers for Lois accidentally get sent to Lilli, who realizes she still has feelings for Fred.

As secrets get revealed and gangsters show up to the theatre, will the truth leave Fred and his Broadway-bound show dead on arrival?

Welcome to Haywood Arts Regional Theatre’s grand summer production, “Kiss Me, Kate,” which is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.”

The Tony Award-winning Cole Porter musical continues to charm audiences 60 years after its original release on Broadway. At HART, the show will run four weekends starting this weekend. Shows will run July 11-13, 17-20, 24-27, and July 31 to Aug. 2. Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows will begin at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinees will start at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, and $10 for students.

It would be hard to top HART’s smash hit, “West Side Story,” which set record sales at the box office last summer and ran for four weekends – one weekend longer than the usual run for a summer musical at HART. This year, with many returning cast members and two HART veterans — Art O’Neil and Melodie Galloway — HART Executive Director Steve Lloyd is expecting “Kiss Me, Kate” to be even bigger. It’s $5,000 more expensive just in terms of costumes.

And with the nearly nonstop dance action, it has a complexity that few community theatres dare to attempt, according to Lloyd.

“It’s probably the most difficult show we’ve done,” Lloyd said. “It’s definitely stretching us in a number of ways.”

This year’s summer musical will also run for four weekends, which Lloyd thought initially would be too long, as it might burn out the actors, but the actors were all for it.

“After ‘West Side Story’ they were all thrilled to have a fourth weekend,” Lloyd said.

Also involved in the production are choreographer Cord Scott, a Western Carolina University student who grew up being in HART productions, and music director Chuck Taft, who has wielded the baton in many of HART’s most successful musicals.

Thanks to the local MusicWorks program in Waynesville and a faithful young group of actors, HART is enjoying a steady parade of school-age talent that is normally hard to find.

“We’ve kind of cultivated a dance corps,” Lloyd said.

One of this year’s lead actors, Brainard Burrus, a recent Pisgah High School grad who plays Bill Calhoun (the gambler), is the brother of Clare Burrus, who starred as the lead female role in HART’s last two summer musicals — “West Side Story” and “My Fair Lady.” In this show, Brainard takes a more leading role while Clare is in the chorus.

“This time it’s his turn,” Lloyd said, adding that it was good to see young actors embrace different types of roles.

The play presents a number of challenges, aside from learning the songs and dance numbers. The most important thing to remember is that it’s a play within a play — with Shakespearean language. The story is about people trying to put on a play, and with comic and ironic turns, each play parallels a similar plot — love’s follies and the hopes we have for finding love. In this case, one formerly married couple — Fred and Lilli — find themselves struggling to admit each one still loves the other.

“It’s really about us finding our way back to each other,” said Art O’Neil, who plays Fred Graham.

Melodie Galloway plays a feisty Lilli Vanessi. The two actors have starred together in past HART productions such as “Carousel” and “A Little Night Music,” so it’s no stretch to see their banter as clever as ever. It comes from a mutual respect the two actors have for each other, a friendship off-stage that spans more than a decade.

“We really enjoy working with each other,” Galloway said. “I’m very confident with Art.”

Meanwhile, O’Neil has long been enamored with Galloway’s voice.

“I could hear her singing ‘til the cows come home,” he pined backstage before the show’s first dress rehearsal.

And if she misses a line or O’Neil is left waiting for a cue, either one is strong enough to carry the scene.

For Galloway, who has showcased her talents as a musical director in past HART shows, “Kiss Me, Kate” is also a chance to see the next generation of talent thrive.

“I’ve really watched them from the [orchestra] pit,’ she said. “And I’ve felt like I’ve gotten to watch those kids grow up.”

It’s also a special treat for Galloway to see young actors singing with a live orchestra, which most local community theatres (let alone colleges) don’t have.

“Kiss Me, Kate,” which opened on Broadway back in 1949, marked a resurgence in Cole Porter’s career. In 1937, a horse riding accident crushed his legs and left him with chronic pain, he was told that he would have to have his right leg amputated. Porter refused, although he did undergo more than 30 surgeries and was constantly in pain for the rest of his life. Some critics thought Porter was at the end of his career, but when he came out with “Kiss Me, Kate,” which ran for more than 1,000 shows and racked up five Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist, he found himself back in prime form. Porter also wrote for Hollywood movies starring Fred Astaire and wrote songs that were sung by Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly.

While he had a few more hits after “Kiss Me, Kate,” Porter’s final years were marked by sadness and depression. His right leg was finally amputated. His mother died. His wife died. He endured ulcers, more operations and even electric shock therapy. He died at the age of 73 in Santa Monica, California in 1964.

But Porter’s work continues to inspire new audiences. A 1953 movie version of “Kiss Me, Kate” charmed audiences, and there have been at least three more TV productions of this story. A 1999 revival show of “Kiss Me, Kate” picked up several Tony Awards, and a 2001 London revival was nominated for several Laurence Olivier Awards.

For more information about HART productions or to reserve tickets for “Kiss Me, Kate,” call 828-456-6322 or go to the Web site www.sellingticket.com/HART.