Musical "Dogfight" has bite, while "Kiss Me, Kate" plays dead

Before the Benj Pasek-Justin Paul musical "Dear Evan Hansen" premiered at Arena Stage this summer, their show "Dogfight" ran off-Broadway in 2012. The fingerprints are the same: The stories focus on young, vulnerable characters caught in lies. The music has an energetic pop base that easily expands into lush emotional territory.