LEND ME A TENOR

February 17, 2011
by
2 mins read

by DICK KEREKES & LEISLA SANSOM
The Stanton Prep drama students once again left their Northside campus to bring a play to the stage of Theatre Jacksonville in San Marco Square. At the end of 2010, they presented the musical farce, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum. The most recent production was also a farce, Ken Ludwig’s award-winning Lend Me A Tenor, which was on the boards February 10, 11, and 12.
Lend Me A Tenor has been a comedy choice for many high school and college groups, as well as community and dinner theatres, since its debut in 1986, when it was nominated for nine Tonys. The 2010 revival on Broadway was very successful and resulted in three Tony nominations including Best Revival of a Play.
The story takes play in 1934, when a famous Italian tenor, Tito Merelli (Nathan Dennis), comes to Cleveland for a one-night performance of “Otello.” He is a world-renowned performer, with a prodigious appetite for drink, food, and women. Unfortunately, Tito passes out and is presumed dead. But this is the gala season opener and the show must go on.
Max (William Baxley) who has a lowly position as the personal assistant to the company’s general manager Saunders (Tiernan Middleton), is in love with his daughter, and has dreams of being a star. An opera star. After some forcible urging by Saunders, who is desperate to save his job, Max agrees to don Otello’s costume in blackface to perform the role for the sold-out audience.
Ludwig tosses other interesting characters into this hilarious farce, filled with slamming doors and mistaken identities. There is Maria (Shelby Ellis) Tito’s hot-headed and jealous Italian wife and Maggie (Priscilla Brubeck), Saunders’s very attractive daughter who is flighty and pursues Tito, bedazzled by his fame and the opportunity for romance.
Obioma Ezinawa played Julia, the Chair of the Opera Guild, with an assured grace. Ash Tilak played Diana, the company’s lead soprano, attractive and shameless, who succeeds in compromising the real Tito in a zany bedroom scene. Rounding out the cast is the rubber-faced Jake Higdon as the star-gazing hotel bellhop, who has some fine comic moments.
The ending is a bit silly, but then again so was the whole show which was written to keep you laughing for two hours and certainly succeeded in that.
The actors were all wonderful in their roles and played well off each other. Director Shirley Sacks emphasized the all important pacing that is essential to make this kind of farce work, with results that were evident to the appreciative audience.
The impressive art deco hotel suite set was built by Stanton’s stagecraft classes at the school and transported to Theatre Jacksonville. The set had bright turquoise walls, with furnishings that included art deco designs, and other period touches, such as a vintage telephone.
Players by the Sea’s production manager, set designer and director, Lee Hamby designed the costumes that reflected the era and defined the characters. For example, the women wore flowered georgette dresses, as well as elegant formal gowns, while Max appeared in a plaid vest and bow tie. The remarkably versatile Mr. Hamby is playing the lead in the upcoming Alhambra production of Hairspray.
It appeared that all the cast of Lend Me A Tenor are seniors, and the Dual Critics have seen most of them in other shows in the past three years, going back to their TJ production of Urinetown.
Thanks, Stanton Prep for a sparking rendition of this crackling comedy. It was as good as any Tenor we’ve ever seen. We’re looking forward to the next production.

Folio is your guide to entertainment and culture around and near Jacksonville, Florida. We cover events, concerts, restaurants, theatre, sports, art, happenings, and all things about living and visiting Jax. Folio serves more than two million readers across Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, including St. Augustine, The Beaches, and Fernandina.

Current Issue

SUBMIT EVENTS

Submit Events

Advertisements

Welcome to Rockville 2025
SingOutLoadFestival_TheAmp_2025
omaha-steaks-banners

Follow FOLIO!

Previous Story

NO-I-TAN-I-GAM-I theatre review

Next Story

VOTE! SAVE JACKSONVILLE FILMMAKERS

Latest from On Stage

Beat It to MJ THE MUSICAL Downtown

The audience is socializing as patrons trickle in.  The auditorium lights are on.  Then you realize actors are trickling onto the stage.  If you’re not watching for them to be starting something, you might not notice.  Suddenly, someone comes on and announces, “Five minutes ’til Michael,” and you realize you’re

Carole King is BEAUTIFUL at the Alhambra

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL focuses on thirteen (1958-1971) years in a longer career, and it showcases not only Carole the singer/songwriter, but her first major writing partner, a second writing duo who were competitors and friends, as well as some of the numerous artists that actually recorded their varied

LES MISERABLES is a Tapestry of Sight and Sound

If you love opera, you’ll love LES MISERABLES.  If you don’t love opera, you’ll love LES MISERABLES.  The original story was written in the 1800’s by author and artist Victor Hugo, then adapted in 1980 into a French sung-through musical by Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil.  Five years later, it was

April Theater, Dance and Film

April 1-6 “Les Miserables” Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts fscjartistseries.org April 3 “A Year With Frog and Toad” Thrasher-Horne Center thcenter.org April 3-11 “Beautiful: The Carole King Story” Alhambra Theatre & Dining alhambrajax.com April 3-13 “Oklahoma!” Artist Connection Theatre artistconnectiontheatre.org April 4 “The Great Gatsby:

In the Midst

Words by Ambar Ramirez “My motto is for the community, by the community. And that is a representation of who you share and forge spaces with, and in the midst is a true representation of community experiences built on the life experiences of true creatives that eat, breathe, live
July 5th Cleanup
GoUp

Don't Miss

The Avett Brothers

November 15 The Avett Brothers St. Augustine Amphitheatre (904) 471-1965

Paula Poundstone

Paula Poundstone “Twitter is the postcards in my head.” It’s