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Lend Me A Tenor
A Tour de farce
By Ken Ludwig
Directed by Justin Amellio
Produced by One Theatre Company
At the Athenaeum Theatre
2936 N. Southport Ave.
Chicago, IL
Call 773-622-0585, tickets $25
Thursday through Saturdays at 8 PM
Sundays at 2 PM
Running time 2 hours with intermission
Through October 8, 2006
One Theatre Company delivers a zany farce.
One Theatre Company’s ambitions are boundless and their latest Equity production of Lend Me a Tenor is another indicator of their dedication to their craft. This show works and delivers an enjoyable evening of theatre. This rib-tickling comedy by Ken Ludwig (Crazy For You, Moon Over Buffalo) was a sensation on Broadway (1989) (Two Tony Awards) and in London, and is guaranteed to have audiences teary-eyed from laughing.
World-famous tenor, Tito Merelli, arrives too late to rehearse for his role as Otello at the Cleveland Grand Opera, the centerpiece of the most important fundraiser in its 1934 season. Through a hilarious series of mishaps, Tito is given a double dose of tranquilizers, which mix with the booze he has consumed, and he passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders (Skip Lundby) and his assistant Max (Matt Dyson) believe he is dead. What to do? Max is an aspiring singer and Saunders persuades him to get into Morelli’s Otello costume and try to fool the audience into thinking he’s Tito. Max succeeds admirably, but Morelli comes to and gets into his other costume. Now two Otellos are running around in costume and two women are running around in lingerie, each thinking Tito is wooing them into bed.
I was exhausted from laughing so much from this show. Ludwig is a master of the farce with a broad over-the-top comedy with lots of slapstick, door slamming, misunderstanding, double meanings and mistaken identities. Director Justin Amellio has the cast moving at high speeds with precise timing and energy. This fun show quickly engages us and takes us on a hilarious ride through old-time comedy. The show reminded me of a Marx Brothers film.
Skip Lundby as Saunders, the neurotic opera company manager, demonstrated why he is a comedic talent of the first order with his unique blend of manic behavior and mischievous charm. Andrea Wielgus as Maggie radiated innocence and beauty as Maggie. This fine ensemble worked smoothly to extrude every laugh Ludwig envisioned. Amy Dolan’s Julia, Jake Saleh’s bellhop and Aaron Hunt’s Tito landed their comedy deftly.
I was impressed with the performance of young Matt Dyson as the bumbling Max who goes from want-to-be opera singer to the star tenor of the opera. Dyson has the innate likeability, naive charm and expressive body language that talented actors instinctive possess. Matt Dyson is welcome new comic talent.
Lend Me A Tenor has non-stop laughs produced by clever plotting, excellent characterizations performed effectively in an intimate space. The result is a hoot! This show is a fine date show and a perfect light comedy that will let you escape into the madcap world of farce. I liked the flashback, rewind effect at the end when the cast in double-time (running actually) re-enacts most of the scenes of the show that hints of a video rewind. A marvelous gesture that garners more laughs. Lend Me A Tenor is vintage farce that never grows old, only better with age. One Theatre Company is growing into a worthy young troupe.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2006
Lend Me A Tenor
By Ken Ludwig
Directed by Eric Wegener
At Piccolo Theatre Ensemble
At the Evanston Arts Depot
600 Main Street
Evanston, IL
Call 847-424-0089, tickets $20
Fridays & Saturdays at 8 PM
Sundays at 3 PM
Running time is 2 hours with intermission
Through October 14, 2006
This tenor hits many sour notes.
You wonder why two theatre companies open the same play within one week of one another? One Theatre company (see above) opened Lend Me A Tenor last Tuesday at the Athenaeum Theatre in a far superior production. I don’t like comparing productions but I can hardly do otherwise since I have seen both within a week. If you’re trying to decide which production to see----go the Equity production by One Theatre company.
Piccolo’ s production suffers from some casting choices. Ken Raabe’s Saunders is much too stiff and manic and Glenn Proud’s Max doesn’t compare to Matt Dyson’s in One Theatre’s production. The production values in Piccolo’s are weak and the show seems under rehearsed. Few laughs were heard on the opening night performance. I guess if there wasn’t another choice, Piccolo’s Lend Me A Tenor would be considered an ok show. But since there is a choice, go to the one at the Athenaeum Theatre. You wonder why two theatre companies pick the same play at the same time? Too bad.
Piccolo Theatre’s Lend Me A Tenor is passable but not preferable to One Theatre’s.
Somewhat Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: September 12, 2006
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