Lend me a Tenor

Synopsis

This uproarious musical comedy by Peter Sham and Brad Carroll is a riotous, unpredictable explosion of mistaken identities and unexpected romance - based on the award winning West End and Broadway hit comedy by Ken Ludwig. It’s 1934, and the world’s greatest tenor Tito Merelli has come to Cleveland, Ohio, to save its Grand Opera Company by singing Otello. When he is unexpectedly incapacitated, Max, the opera director's meek assistant, is given the daunting task of finding a last minute replacement. Chaos ensues - including a scheming soprano, a tenor-struck ingénue, a jealous wife, shrimp gone bad and the Cleveland Police department.

Our Review:

Karen Bussell - 29 September 2010

A STANDING ovation was something of a foregone conclusion as the musical comedy Lend Me A Tenor opened at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal under Ian Talbot’s tight direction.

Ken Ludwig’s Olivier and Tony Award-winning 1989 farce is given a musical reworking by Peter Sham and Brad Carroll which slows the expected quick-fire comedy a jot in the first half but adds a new dimension to the otherwise somewhat predictable piece.

All the elements of a popular rip roaring night out are here: mistaken identity, amazing co-incidence, double entendres, requited love, infatuation, opulent costumes, comic chaos, dance and song. And no less than five doors to affect the farcial element of a “Noises Off meets Verdi”.

Paul Farnsworth’s sumptuous set, resplendent with gilt and chandeliers, is a worthy backdrop as Italian opera supremo the mercurial Tito Merelli (a tremendous performance both visually and vocally from EastEnders/RSC T...