LEND ME A TENOR Closes at WPPAC

White Plains Performing Arts Center will present Lend Me a Tenor through March 18. 

Tickets: $35 ($25 for high school age patrons or younger), are available online at www.wppac.com, or by calling 914.323.1600.

About the Show: This night in September of 1934 is the biggest in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company as world famous tenor Tito Morelli (Jorge Acosta), known also to his fans as “Il Stupendo”, is to perform Otello , his greatest role, at the gala season opener.

Saunders (John Anthony Lopez), the harried General Manager, hopes this will put Cleveland on the cultural map. Unfortunately, even before the star leaves his hotel room, everything begins to unravel. Chaos ensues when Morelli's wife, Maria (Maria Silverman), who has mistaken an autograph-seeker hidden in his closet for a secret lover, leaves him a "Dear John" letter. The distraught Morelli accidentally is given a double dose of tranquilizers to calm him and passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant Max (Joel Pellini) believe he’s dead.

In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders coaxes Max into Morelli's costume, intending to fool the audience with a fake 'Il Stupendo'. Nervous amateur Max succeeds admirably, but Morelli revives, dresses for his second act and heads for the stage.

With two Otello’s running around in costume and two women running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with “Il Stupendo”, the farce spins out of control onstage and off in a chain-reaction of mistaken identity, farcical plot twists, double entendres, innuendoes, and constant entrances and exits through many doors.

The production is directed by WPPAC Artistic Director Jeremy Quinn who co-directed the WPPAC’s acclaimed production of CATS in December.