James T. Lane and the cast of Kiss Me, Kate sing It’s Too Darn Hot at the 2019 Tony Awards

Revised June 4, 2022

There have been a lot more 90º degree-days than normal this summer. From what I see on weather reports, most of the country has been broiling, baking, roasting, or stewing, depending on how bad the humidity is. So lots of other people must be thinking, “It’s Too Darn Hot.”

The song of that name by Cole Porter appears in his great musical Kiss Me, Kate. It’s a play within a play in which a divorced couple, who still secretly love each other despite their constant quarreling, star in a musical version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Shakespeare’s bawdiness provided Porter with the license to introduce “It’s Too Darn Hot” and other risque songs into what turned out to be his first hit in three years.

I have provided biographical material about Cole Porter and a plot summary of Kiss Me, Kate in my post on another great song from the musical, “So in Love.”

Performance history of Kiss Me, Kate

Kiss Me, Kate opened on Broadway on December 30, 1948, and ran for 1,077 performances. Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison headed the cast. It won the very first Tony Award for Best Musical in 1949. It also won Best Script and Best Score. Its original cast album was the first ever issued on LP.

MGM issued a movie version in 1953. It received mostly positive reviews, but some critics noted that it toned down much of the Shakespearian bawdiness. Also, two characters portrayed by black actors on Broadway were replaced by white characters.

A 1999 revised version of Kiss Me, Kate ran on Broadway for 881 performances. It won six Drama Desk Awards in 2000, including Outstanding Revival and Orchestrations; and five Tony Awards, also in 2000, including Best Revival and Best Orchestrations.

The 2019 revival ran for only four months, but it won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography, the Drama League Award for Outstanding of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical, and the Outer Critic’s Circle Award for Outstanding Choreographer.

It’s Too Darn Hot

Most of the great songs in Kiss Me, Kate help to move the plot along. “It’s Too Darn Hot” doesn’t. As the cast and crew relax during intermission, the head of the stage crew laments that he can’t do what he wants with his girlfriend that night because of the heat.

Lorenzo Fuller sang it on Broadway and, of course, made the first recording as part of the original cast album. No video of the original Broadway cast is available, so here’s a performance of the 2019 revival from the Tony Award ceremony. It actually has little of Porter’s original lyrics. I suppose the number was truncated to make it fit the ceremony’s schedule

But enjoy the video and dance sequence, and be glad you don’t have to dance so energetically when “It’s Too Darn Hot.”

The song has so little relevance to the plot that the movie assigns it to a different character (female at that) and changes the scene.

Ann Miller sings it early in the movie as her character auditions for the part of Bianca. Porter’s original lyric mentions the Kinsey Report in the bridge. MGM decided to replace the reference with “the latest report.” Given Miller’s costume and dance report, the change hardly makes the song less bawdy.

A few recordings of “It’s Too Darn Hot” followed the Broadway production, but the movie seems to have inspired a flood of them. Notable recordings over the next decade include Ella Fitzgerald, The Four Lads, Petula Clark, Mel Tormé, Sammy Davis, Jr. Recordings have continued. Erasure issued perhaps the oddest cover in 1990.

Here’s one of Ella Fitzgerald’s videos. It’s audio of a live club show and not from one of her albums.