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Suggest pagesLend Me a Tenor
| Lend Me a Tenor | |
|---|---|
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| Written by | Ken Ludwig |
| Date premiered | March 6, 1986 |
| Place premiered | West End |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Setting | A hotel suite in Cleveland, Ohio in 1934. |
| IBDB profile | |
Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. The play was produced on both the West End (1986) and Broadway (1989). Although it received seven Tony Award nominations, it won only one, for Best Actor. A Broadway revival opened in 2010. Lend Me a Tenor has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in twenty-five countries. It is a popular choice of regional theatre companies and community theatre groups.
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[edit] Synopsis
In 1934, the renowned tenor Tito Merelli, known to his fans as "Il Stupendo," is scheduled to sing the lead in Otello. The opera is being produced as a gala fundraiser for the Cleveland Opera Company. Unfortunately, even before the star leaves his hotel room, everything begins to unravel. Chaos ensues when Merelli's wife, who has mistaken an autograph-seeker hidden in his closet for a secret lover, leaves him a "Dear John" letter. The distraught Merelli accidentally is given a double dose of tranquilizers to calm him and passes out. Saunders, the company's General Manager, is determined that the show will go on (for his own financial sake), so he asks his assistant Max to impersonate the opera star. Max puts on the blackface makeup required for the role of Otello, and his disguise succeeds admirably – until Merelli, also in blackface, wakes up and heads for the stage. What follows is a chain-reaction of mistaken identity, farcical plot twists, double entendres, innuendoes, and constant entrances and exits through many doors.
[edit] Productions
The play, originally titled Opera Buffa, had been produced at a summer theater, American Stage Festival, Milford, NH. The English director David Gilmore read it and asked to direct; Andrew Lloyd Webber was the producer.[1]
The West End production opened on March 6, 1986 at the Globe Theatre, where it ran for ten months, closing on January 10, 1987. The cast featured Denis Lawson (Max), Jan Francis (Maggie), John Barron (Saunders), Ron Holgate (Tito), Anna Nicholas (Maria), Edward Hibbert (Bellhop), Gwendolyn Humble (Diana), and Josephine Blake (Julia).[2][3]
After sixteen previews, the Broadway production, directed by Jerry Zaks, opened on March 2, 1989 at the Royale Theatre, where it ran for 476 performances. The cast included Philip Bosco, Victor Garber, Ron Holgate, Tovah Feldshuh, Caroline Lagerfelt, and Jane Connell.
A Broadway revival began performances at the Music Box Theatre on March 13, 2010 in preview and officially opened on April 4, 2010. Directed by Stanley Tucci, the cast stars Anthony LaPaglia (Tito Merelli), Justin Bartha (Max), Jan Maxwell (Maria), Mary Catherine Garrison (Maggie), Jennifer Laura Thompson (Diana), Jay Klaitz (Bellhop), and husband and wife couple Tony Shalhoub (Sanders) and Brooke Adams (Julia).[4][5] The revival closed on August 15, 2010 due to the expiration of the contracts of Anthony LaPaglia, Justin Bartha, and Tony Shalhoub.
The musical version, with book and lyrics by Peter Sham and Music by Brad Carroll opened at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on 24 September and ran until 6 October 2010, after which it transferred to London's West End transfer on 15 June 2011 and will close on 6 August 2011, following damning reviews and two months of poor ticket sales.
[edit] Adaptations
A musical adaptation was presented in May 2006 as a staged reading as part of the Utah Shakespearean Festival's New American Playwright Project, in Cedar City, Utah, followed by rewrites and a production as part of USF's Summer 2007 repertory season, which received rave reviews.[6] The musical opened in London's West End in June 2011.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Laurence Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year (nominee)
- Tony Award
- Best Play (nominee)
- Best Actor in Play
- Philip Bosco (winner)
- Victor Garber (nominee)
- Best Featured Actress in a Play – Tovah Feldshuh (nominee)
- Best Scenic Design – Tony Walton (nominee)
- Best Costume Design – William Ivey Long (nominee)
- Best Direction of a Play (winner)
- Outstanding Actor in a Play – Philip Bosco (winner)
- Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – Tovah Feldshuh (winner)
- Outstanding Director of a Play (winner)
- Outstanding Costume Design (winner)
- Outstanding Lighting Design – Paul Gallo (nominee)
- Outstanding Set Design (nominee)
2010 Revival
- Best Revival of a Play (nominee)
- Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play - Jan Maxwell (nominee)
- Best Costume Design of a Play - Martin Pakledinaz (nominee)
- Outstanding Revival of a Play
- Outstanding Director of a Play - Stanley Tucci (nominee)
- Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play - Jan Maxwell (nominee)
- Outstanding Costume Design - Martin Pakledinaz (nominee)
[edit] References
- ^ FAQ on Lend Me a Tenor at kenludwig.com, accessed May 20, 2009
- ^ Listing for West End thisistheatre.com, accessed May 20, 2009
- ^ Ludwig, Ken. Lend me a tenor (1989), Samuel French, Inc, ISBN 0-573-69121-5, p. 5
- ^ Hetrick, Adam. "The Show Must Go On: Lend Me a Tenor, with LaPaglia, Shalhoub and Bartha, Opens on Broadway". Playbill.com, April 4, 2010
- ^ Justin Bartha Confirmed for Lend Me a Tenor
- ^ [1]
