Tucci-Helmed LEND ME A TENOR Bows on Broadway this Spring

Ken Ludwig's comedy LEND ME A TENOR starring Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub, Jan Maxwell, Mary Catherine Garrison, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jay Klaitz, and Brooke Adams, directed by Stanley Tucci, will bow on Broadway on April 4, 2010 at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). Preview performances begin March 11. Additonal casting will be announced.

LEND ME A TENOR is produced by The Araca Group, Stuart Thompson, Carl Moellenberg, Rodney Rigby, Olympus Theatricals, Broadway Across America, in Association with Lisa Cartwright, Wendy Federman/Jamie deRoy.

Set in the 1930s, LEND ME A TENOR is a madcap screwball comedy that takes place when Tito Merelli, the fiery-tempered and world famous Italian superstar, arrives in Cleveland, Ohio to make his debut with the local opera and promptly goes missing. As Saunders, the show's presenter, conspires to cover for Tito's absence, placate his hot-blooded wife, and distract his most passionate fans, chaos on a truly operatic level ensues.

LEND ME A TENOR's design and creative team is John Lee Beatty (set designer), Kenneth Posner (lighting design), Martin Pakledinaz, (costume design), Peter Hylenski (sound design) and David Loud (musical supervisor).

Anthony LaPaglia (Tito Merelli) is an Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe Award-winning actor. Mr. LaPaglia rose to stardom with a mix of classic roles on stage and screen including On the Open Road at the Public Theater, So I Married an Axe Murderer with Mike Myers, The Rose Tattoo on Broadway with Mercedes Ruehl, The Client with Susan Sarandon, and Lantana for which he won the prestigious Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor, culminating with his Tony Award-winning turn in Arthur Miller's 1998 revival of A View from the Bridge. For the past seven seasons, he starred on the critically acclaimed CBS drama "Without a Trace" for which he won a Golden Globe. He received an Emmy Award for his guest starring appearance on NBC's "Frasier." He will next be seen starring in Balibo which premiered this fall at the Toronto Film Festival and garnered an unprecedented 14 Australian Film Institute Award nominations and three wins including one for Mr. LaPaglia for Best Actor.

Tony Shalhoub (Saunders) is a Golden Globe and three-time Emmy Award-winner best known for his title role on USA's hit comedy "Monk." Mr. Shalhoub has enjoyed an illustrious 25-year career in TV, film, and on Broadway. Highlights include his Tony-nominated turn in Herb Gardner's Conversations With My Father, the NBC comedy "Wings," and leads in Hollywood blockbusters Men in Black and Galaxy Quest.

Jan Maxwell (Maria), a two-time Tony Award-nominated actress, is a Broadway veteran of the highest caliber consistently re-inventing herself in comedies like Neil Simon's The Dinner Party, dramas like Coram Boy, and musicals like Chitty, Chitty, Bang Bang. She is currently starring in The Royal Family.

Brooke Adams (Julia). A veteran film, television, and stage actress, Ms. Adams' career took off when she starred opposite Richard Gere and Sam Shepard in Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven. She went on to leading roles in the films The Dead Zone and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, on TV in "Monk," and "Wings," and on Broadway in The Heidi Chronicles where she met husband Tony Shalhoub.

Mary Catherine Garrison (Maggie) is regarded as one of Broadway's most inventive and unique ingénues. Ms. Garrison has been seen on Broadway as Squeaky Fromme in Stephen Sondheim's Assassins, opposite Cynthia Nixon in Rabbit Hole, and most recently in the revival of Accent on Youth opposite David Hyde Pierce.

Jennifer Laura Thompson (Diana) received a Tony Award nomination for her performance as Hope Cladwell in Urinetown, a role she originated off-Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in Footloose and was the first replacement in the role of Glinda in Wicked. Her off-Broadway credits include Michael John LaChiusa's Little Fish and A Doll's Life. She played Julie Jordan in the first national tour of Carousel and appeared in national tours of Jesus Christ Superstar (as Mary) and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. She also starred in Encore!'s On the Town and Of Thee I Sing.

Jay Klaitz (The Bellhop). A stage and screen up-and-comer, Mr. Klaitz has received raves for his roles in the Broadway musical High Fidelity and the Oscar-nominated film Frozen River.

Stanley Tucci is an Emmy Award and Golden Globe winning actor who has appeared in over 50 films. In 2009, Stanley was seen in Julie & Julia, opposite Meryl Streep. He received Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for his performance in The Lovely Bones, which was released this month. Stanley also starred in Blind Date which he co-wrote and directed. As an actor, he is a stage veteran and made his Broadway debut in The Queen and the Rebels opposite Colleen Dewhurst and went on to star in The Misanthrope, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Iceman Cometh, and in his Tony Award- nominated turn in Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune. His film directing credits include Big Night, The Impostors and Joe Gould's Secret. Mr. Tucci will make his Broadway directing debut with Lend Me a Tenor.

Ken Ludwig (playwright) has had a number of hits on Broadway, in London, and throughout the world. His work has been performed in over 30 countries in at least 20 languages and includes Crazy for You (Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical), Lend Me a Tenor (two Tony Awards and the Olivier Award nomination for Best Play), Moon Over Buffalo with Carol Burnett and Lynn Redgrave on Broadway (and with Joan Collins and Frank Langella in London), Twentieth Century starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche, Shakespeare in Hollywood, which was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company (Helen Hayes Award for Best Play), the Broadway musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Sullivan & Gilbert. His latest plays and musicals include Leading Ladies, Be My Baby, The Three Musketeers, The Beaux' Stratagem, An American in Paris, and Treasure Island.

LEND ME A TENOR premiered on Broadway in 1989 and received seven Tony Award nominations, winning two. It was also honored with four Drama Desk Awards. Prior to Broadway, LEND ME A TENOR played London's West End where it received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Comedy. The play has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in more than twenty-five countries.

Tickets will be available through Telechagre (212 239 6200) or at www.Telecharge.com on December 28. For more information visit www.lendmeatenorbroadway.com

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

 

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