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Opera buffa
The Lyric lends Tenor panache
BY ELLEN PFEIFER

Lend Me a Tenor
By Ken Ludwig. Directed by Jack Neary. Set by Robert M. Russo. Lighting by Karen Perlow. Costumes by Gail Astrid Buckley. Sound by Marc Plevinsky. With Rachel Harker, Cheryl McMahon, Laura Napoli, Brian Nash, Robert Saoud, Joe Smith, Richard Snee, and Bobbie Steinbach. At the Lyric Stage Company of Boston through May 18.


Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor is as intricately plotted as a fugue, as dizzyingly fast-paced as a coloratura showpiece, and as silly as . . . well, an opera plot. No surprise, then, that this farce, a success on Broadway in 1989, takes place around the periphery of a gala production of Verdi’s Otello celebrating the 10th anniversary of the fictional Cleveland Grand Opera Company. The world-famous Italian tenor Tito Merelli has been engaged to sing the stupendously difficult title role, but from the moment the divo arrives at his hotel — late and dyspeptic — nothing goes as planned.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston had the good idea of engaging Jack Neary, actor, playwright, and frequent director at the Worcester Foothills Theatre, to stage the show. His production is like demented clockworks, everything whirring and spinning in perfect synchrony on fast-forward.

Set in 1934, the action takes place in Robert M. Russo’s delightful nouveau/deco hotel suite. The two adjoining rooms feature purple brocaded wallpaper, a bed, a settee, a tufted hassock, and an elaborate carved wood radio. Like all good farce, this one has its multiple doors — all the better for quick escapes, unexpected arrivals, and the concealment of contraband (usually in the form of pulchritudinous women). Russo decorates his five doors with wood trim in the shape of curving tendrils and dragonflies. But however delicate they may look, those doors take a lot of punishment in the form of repeated slamming.

Ludwig’s cast of characters is a collection of stereotypes. Tito is a boozer and womanizer with a heavenly voice. His wife, Maria, is an Italian battle ax who’s jealous of her spousal prerogatives. Think Adua Pavarotti or Wanda Toscanini Horowitz crossed with a middle-aged Sophia Loren. Saunders, the company’s general manager, is always worried about public relations. His assistant, Max, is a wimpy " factotum, gofer, and all-purpose dogs body " who, as amateur tenor, saves the day. Maggie, Saunders’s daughter, is a starstruck opera buff who finally comes to love the true-hearted Max. Surrounding them are Diana, the soprano who exploits the casting couch; Julia, the bossy chairwoman of the opera guild; and the Bellhop, another wanna-be tenor.

Director Neary moves these stereotypes around the stage like a soprano singing a mad scene: each note is perfectly placed and follows the others in a dazzling cascade. Particularly amusing are the mirror images he creates; these often involve Max and Tito when both are dressed in Otello garb. Also funny are musical moments like the one where Tito gives Max a voice lesson and the two conclude with the rousing vengeance duet that closes act two of Otello. (Okay, so the music calls for a tenor and a baritone, not two tenors — I don’t hold that against Ludwig and company. It’s wonderful music, after all, and sound director Marc Plevinsky does a nice job synchronizing the pre-recorded accompaniments.)

The cast members, who must all enjoy marathon-quality aerobic fitness after preparing this show, are attractive, funny, and agile. Joe Smith displays the right boyish charm as Max and then the perfect panicky catatonia when called upon to substitute for Tito. Cheryl McMahon is spot on, down to the gestures and the Italian accent, as the much-betrayed but still sultry Maria Merelli. Robert Saoud, as Tito, has exactly the right build for an Italian tenor, and he is master of both the patois and the physical humor. Laura Napoli’s Maggie is all nerves and angles — in the 21st century you’d give the girl some Xanax. With his white hair and white-tie ensemble, Richard Snee is handsomely imposing as Saunders — a tightly wired but dignified executive who loses his composure when he believes his tenor has croaked. Rachel Harker, as Diana, is much too skinny to look realistic as an operatic soprano, but she possesses all the requisite seductive wiles. Bobbie Steinbach and Brian Nash are bright and amusing as Julia and the Bellhop.

Issue Date: April 25-May 2, 2002
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