Ken Ludwig’s revolving door farce of mistaken identity has been well served by Pat Lapomardo’s directorial gusto, Dennis Metro’s strategically devised set design, and actors ideally suited to their particular roles. Max is the sort of character Jack Lemmon would have nailed to the wall in his prime, someone simmering with the sort of anxiety just waiting to erupt into full-blown panic. He’s essentially a gofer for the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, circa 1934, dreaming of becoming an opera star in his own right. The world-famous Italian tenor, Tito Merelli, known to his adoring fans as “Il Stupendo,” is in town to sing the lead in a production of “Otello,” as part of a $50,000 fundraiser sponsored by the Cleveland Opera Guild, headed by the celebrity-infatuated Julia. But then everyone associated with this momentous event is in a genuflecting state of mind over Signor Merelli, including Max’s girlfriend Maggie and the delightfully brazen bellhop. Maggie’s father, who just so happens to be Max’s opera managing boss, Henry Saunders, is a rather acerbic and dryly cynical fellow who only cares about the bottom line and making sure everything runs smoothly. From the outset, “Lend Me a Tenor” assures us that nothing of the sort is going to happen. When Merelli’s always-jealous and suspicious wife Maria walks out on him after accusing him of cheating on her, the bereft tenor pours his heart out to Max over too many glasses of wine, then decides to take a nap before the performance to calm his upset stomach. What Max and Saunders don’t know is that Merelli has also ingested an entire bottle of Valium in a fit of despair and fallen into a deep, unshakeable sleep. Thinking he’s dead, Saunders persuades Max to disguise himself in performance makeup, wig and costume, sing in place of Merelli, and save the evening. When Merelli awakens from his slumber and prepares for the show, he is accosted by the police as a “madman” when he tries to barge his way into the opera house from the hotel suite, and escapes back to the hotel. So much for the set up. What follows is ingeniously funny nonsense. What helps to give this production an added measure of Italian flavor and authentic camaraderie is the casting of James and Michael Lapomardo as, respectively, Max and Tito. The two brothers play endearingly off each other. Cathy Jones is extremely charming as Maggie, wide-eyed with dreamy, romantic yearning. Barbara St. Pierre displays such potent carnality as Diana; one could easily picture her in a Robert Mitchum film noir as the femme fatale. Lisa Mielnicki is a fiercely funny force of nature as the temperamentally combustible Maria, accusatory one minute and soothing the next. Barbara Weihrauch gives the role of Julia a frothy and whimsical touch that amusingly plays against her surface elegance. Tyson Funk scores heavily as the bellhop. Mark Goodney may have the least sympathetic role in the play as Saunders, who comes across as a chilly pragmatist, but he delivers a portrait full of clear-eyed and swiftly dispensed wit in a production that impressively honors the requirements of farce. |
