LEND ME A TENOR Brings Laughs To The Players Guild Of Dearborn Stage

Lend Me A Tenor is a door-slamming, dress-dropping farce with mistaken identities, mischievous misunderstandings and compromising positions.

This Ludwig farce is set in September 1934. Saunders , the general manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is primed to welcome the world-famous Tito Merelli, II Stupendo, the greatest tenor of his generation, to appear for one night only as "Otello." The star arrives late, and through a hilarious series of mishaps, is given a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant, Max , believe he's dead. In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders persuades Max to get into Merelli's "Otello" costume and fool the audience into thinking he's II Stupendo. Max succeeds admirably, but Merelli comes to, and gets into his other costume ready to perform. Now two Otellos are running around in costume and two women are running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with II Stupendo. A sensation on Broadway and in London's West End, this madcap, screwball comedy is guaranteed to leave audiences teary-eyed with laughter.

Lend Me A Tenor is directed by Karen Pritchard with Paul Woodin as Vocal Coach/ Musical Director. The production team includes Karen Prusiewicz as Assistant Director with Richard Moore and Kristen Campbell as co- producers.

The cast of Lend Me a Tenor includes Damon Williams (Max), Greg Viscomi (Tito Merelli), William E. McCloskey (Saunders), Chris Martin (the Bellhop), Julie Ballantyne-Brown (Maggie), Kori Bielaniec (Maria), Sue DeLoiser (Julia), and Jazzmin Sharara (Diana).

Lend Me A Tenor runs 8:00 p.m. January 11-12, 18-19, 25-26 and 2:30 p.m. January 13, 20 and 27, at the theatre, 21730 Madison in Dearborn.

Tickets are $18 and can be bought at the door, by calling 313-561-TKTS or by going online, to the playersguildofdearborn.org.

Photo by Jennifer Deckert