Presented buy special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC
Lend me a Tenor is set in September 1934 on a very important night for the Cleveland Grand Opera Company. Henry Saunders, the general manager of the Opera Company, is primed to welcome world famous "Tito Merelli, Il Stupendo, the greatest tenor of his generation, to appear for one night only as Otello.
The star arrives later after a huge fight with his fiery wife, Maria, and through a series of hilarious mishaps receives a double dose of tranquilizers. His pulse is so low that Saunders and is assistant Max believe he's dead.
In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders persuades Max to get into Merelli's Otello costume and fool the audience into thinking he's Il Stupendo. Max succeeds admirably, but Merelli comes to and gets into his other costume ready to perform.
Now two Otellos are running around in costume and Max must navigate through one comedic disaster after the next.
Together with Saunders, they must find a way to save the Opera Company's big night in grand, farcical fashion.
My Review:
As soon as I saw the stage with about 5-6 doors, I KNEW there would be a lot of door slamming! I was right! THEN I saw the cast and realized that The Broadway Palm actors had come to groove at the Sanibel Herb Strauss Theater!! and I also KNEW that the night would be incredibly special!
I had seen this production years ago and had forgotten so much of the fun! I never knew how well Chris Russel ~ Max and Joel Stigliano ~ Tito Merelli, (sure, with a name like that, I sorta went 'DUH..') sang. Their incredible operatic renditions were spot-on and breath-taking. Great work, guys!
Rob Summers, a actor that seems to thrive on extremely angst-ridden and constantly highly emotional characters. His maintenance of said emotions keeps him at the forefront of being wanted for productions like these. How he's managed not to have strokes when portraying these characters, is a mystery to me.. but he's amazing!
Here is lots more info on the show, the venue, the cast:
Keep your eyes on and your Bridge Pass paid up to get out to Sanibel's Herb Strauss Theater
here's how to keep up with the goings on~
https://www.bigarts.org/performing-arts/
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