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Monday, February 18, 2013

REVIEW: FUN, FURIOUSLY FLUID FUN REIGNS IN “LEND ME A TENOR” AT THE PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE

If you were looking for appropriate words to describe Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor, the latest offering at the Paper Mill Playhouse, fast, furious, or frenetic would do the trick. Set in a Cleveland, Ohio hotel suite one Saturday in September 1934, the play focuses on the dilemma faced by opera impresario Saunders when his guest star, El Stupendo—the famed tenor Tito Morelli —is unable to sing the title role in Otello, the performance of which will benefit the Cleveland Opera Company.

From the opening scene to the typical Ken Ludwig finale, mayhem reigns supreme, complete with slamming doors, costumed doubles and mistaken identities, a jealous wife, a seductive soprano, an enraptured ingénue and a belligerent bellhop. Think Shakespeare’s take-off of Plautus’ A Comedy of Errors or a comedy performed in ancient Rome—you get the idea.

TENOR PRESS 3Don Stephenson has directed this classic farce at full throttle, from the opening moments when Saunders’ assistant Max bursts into the hotel room, frantic that Morelli, due in Cleveland on the noon train, has not yet arrived. Hearing this and furious that El Stupendo will not have enough time to rehearse with the orchestra and cast, Saunders fears for his reputation and his future with the company. And when Morelli and his wife Maria finally do arrive, all seems well until an upset stomach and fierce marital spat between the Italians sends Maria out the door and Morelli to the bottle and his pills. At 6:30 PM, the sleeping tenor is unable to be roused (above), and Saunders and Max feverishly concoct a fantastic scheme to replace the star so the evening can be salvaged. What follows is a great deal of running around the stage at full gallop, the frenzied slamming of doors, characters feverishly hiding in the bathroom, kitchen, and/or closet, and the fakery of mistaken identity, all in the tradition of a Marx Brothers’ movie!

TENOR PRESS 4The energetic and agile cast pulls off the fancy footwork to maintain the fluidity of action so necessary to a successful farce. David Josefsberg is exquisitely uptight as the rather conventional Max, who bores his fiancée Maggie, played by Jill Paice as a sweet, virginal young thing who longs for a fling with someone as cosmopolitan and suave as she imagines Morelli to be. Michael Kostroff’s Saunders is furiously apoplectic, his face red and his veins bulging at the prospect of his career going down in flames before his very eyes. Tito Morelli, played by John Treacy Egan (right), is fatuous, lecherous and egotistical, all while sporting a credible (and outrageous) Italian accent. He has a very funny scene in which he coaches Max on his singing technique. He is paired with the fiery Judy Blazer (above right) as his volatile wife Maria, who finally throws in the towel at his repeated infidelities and flounces out of the suite, leaving him forlorn and suicidal.

TENOR PRESS 5In supporting roles, Nancy Johnston, as Julia, Chairman of the Opera Guild (left, with Egan), sails onto the stage like a ship under full steam, determined to get Morelli to say a few words at the post-performance gala. The contortions she goes through in an attempt to seduce him are especially delicious. The sexy soprano Diana, played by Donna English, makes a fearless attempt to seduce Morelli to further her career, while the singing bellhop, played by Mark Price, will curl your hair with his unctuous fawning over the famous tenor, never missing an opportunity to show off his singing voice.

Filling the expansive Paper Mill Playhouse stage is an elegant, formal hotel suite designed by John Lee Beatty on which all this fantastic action takes place. Six doors provide more than adequate opportunities for slamming (always a good barometer of the complexity of the farce). Costumes by Wade Laboissoniere are elegant 1930's style, especially a slinky foam green gown worn (and cast off by Diana) and a silver sequined number encasing the formidable Julia’s figure. Maggie's innocence is telegraphed by a flowery, girlish frock while Maria's red suit and leopard toque hat mark her as a powerful force of nature.

TENOR PRESS 2As an old dramatic form, the farce, Lend Me a Tenor keeps its audience engaged with ridiculous happenings, absurd actions, unreal situations, mistaken identities and hilarity derived from misunderstandings with language. All is performed with broad humor, which leads to the final f-word: FUN. Despite some mild sexual innuendoes, the play will appeal to the entire family, for when the curtain finally comes down and the footlights darken, Lend Me a Tenor provides full-bodied tickling of the funny bone (Above: Josefsberg and Egan as twin Otellos).

Lend Me a Tenor will be performed through March 10 at the Paper Mill Playhouse on Brookside Drive in Millburn. For information and tickets, call the box office at 973.376.4343 or visit www.papermill.org

P.S. On opening night, the playwright Ken Ludwig joined the cast for their curtain call. It was a pleasure to see the master of farce in the flesh!

(Photos by Jerry Dalia)