and Donna Schilke. All photos by Rich Wagner.
Up in West
Hartford , Playhouse on Park has opted to keep the silliness
rolling. Following on the heels of its production of the delightful “Hound of
the Baskerville’s” comes Ken Ludwig’s zany “Lend Me a Tenor,” directed by Jerry
Winters. Although slightly less madcap than the “Hound,” “Tenor” has enough
door-slamming and mistaken identities to please most fans of farce.
The play is set in Cleveland in 1934, where impresario Henry
Saunders (Mike Boland) and his assistant, Max (Jeff Gonzalez) anxiously await
the arrival or world-renowned tenor Tito Merelli (Robert Wilder), known as “Il
Stupendo” to his adoring fans, a sobriquet to which he fully subscribes.
Merelli is scheduled to sing the lead role in Verdi’s “Otello” to a sell-out
crowd at the Cleveland Grand Opera Company. Also awaiting Il Stupendo’s arrival
is Saunders’ star-struck daughter Maggie (Lilly Wilton), an equally eager
Bellhop (Corrado Alicata), the opera company’s conniving diva Diana (Katie
Vincent) and Saunders wife, Julia (Donna Schilke). When Merelli finally arrives
with his hot-tempered wife Maria (Ashley Ford), Max is assigned to shepherd
Merelli, meet his every need, and get him to the opera house on time.
Donna Schilke and Corrado Alicata
What follows are a series of
misunderstandings, a faux suicide, two tenors running around dressed as
Othello, and various assignations that, among other things, leave the Moor’s
dark make-up smeared on the faces of both Maggie and Diana. The set, by
Christopher Hoyt, provides four doors that the cast gleefully slams (often in
sync) throughout the evening.
Robert Wilde and Jeff Gonzalez
The first act drags a bit as all of
this is set up, then kicks into gear with Merelli’s arrival. As long as Wilde
is on stage (fortunately he is seldom off) there is a heightened energy that
falls away whenever he exits. Such is the case with the second act – things
don’t really start moving again until Merelli stumbles into the hotel room
after being chased by the police. Some of Merelli’s best moments are when he
attempts to kill himself with a fork and the scenes with Maggie and Diana,
which are loaded with double-entendres.
Lilly Wilton and Jeff Gonzalez
This falling off of energy is in no
way due to the rest of the cast, which is uniformly in sync with the
requirements of farce, but rather because, as written by Ludwig, the role of Il
Stupendo simply dominates, with the rest of the characters in his shadow. Given
that, the overshadowing still allows the cast members to create a lot of
hilariously shining moments.
Katie Vincent, Lilly Wilton and Jeff Gonzalez
Boland knows how to bluster and
babble, and is capable of both the slow and not-so-slow boil. His Saunders is
suitably manic as he forges ahead with a show-must-go-on attitude. Playing
against him with a nicely matched and complementary reserve is Gonzalez, whose
best moments are when his character is a foil for either Saunders or Merelli.
As the tenor’s wife, Ford is delightfully high-strung and deliciously jealous,
while Vincent’s Diana is sensuous and devious in equal measures. When called
upon, both Schilke and Alicata add to the merry confusion as there characters
seek the attention of the world-renowned tenor.
Ashley Ford, Mike Boland and Jeff Gonzalez
Of all the cast members in Il
Stupendo’s shadow, Wilton as Maggie shines the brightest, for she gives us a
young lady who is both naïve and romantically adventurous – bright, perky and
totally believable.
Director Winters has his actors in
perpetual motion, as is fitting for a farce. They pop up everywhere, through
the doors and from the wings, creating a kaleidoscope of movement that adds to
the fun. In all, “Lend Me a Tenor” is a quite enjoyable production, with enough
laughs to fill its two-plus hours.
“Lend Me a Tenor” runs through Feb.
9. For tickets or more information call 860-523-5900, X10, or go to
www.playhouseonpark.org
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