Saturday, April 10, 2010

Theater Review: Lend Me a Tenor

Stars Lend Themselves to Farcical Silliness
By Lauren Yarger
A star-studded cast directed by Stanley Tucci turns in a solid comedic performance to propel a fun Broadway revival of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor.

Saunders (Tony Shaloub, TV’s famous OCD detective Monk among other stage and screen credits) and his assistant, Max (film star Justin Bartha making his Broadway debut), plan a concert featuring opera great Tito Merelli (Anthony LaPaglia, Broadway veteran and also star of TV’s “Without a Trace”).

There’s just one problem. Saunders and Max think Merelli has died in his opulent Cleveland hotel room (designed by John Lee Beatty, complete with five doors lending themselves to the pop ins and outs and door slamming typical of this type of farce) and they quickly devise a scheme to go on with the concert and fool the waiting audience. Max, a budding opera singer himself, dresses as Othello and goes on as Merelli.

Actually, there’s another slight problem: Merelli isn’t dead and also dressed as Othello, heads to the concert hall. Before you can say the word “farce,” mistaken identities and mayhem abound. Fooled are Sanders' daughter, Maggie (New York stage actress Mary Catherine Garrison), her aunt, Julia (Brooke Adams, screen star and Shaloub’s real-life wife), Merelli’s wife, Maria (very funny Broadway veteran Jan Maxwell), opera diva wannabe Diane (Jennifer Laura Thompson, another delightful Broadway vet), and the bellhop (Jay Klantz, probably the newest kid on the block, but who makes his minor role memorable).

The two Othellos, elegantly costumed by Martin Pakledinaz (all of the 1930-era close are wonderful and there’s one blue evening gown to die for) and humorously made up (Paul Huntly, hair and wig design), confuse everyone. The evening includes rotting shrimp, evading the police, sexual double entendre and objects projected into the audience, among other things.

When Shaloub’s character finally figures out that Merelli isn’t dead, I so wanted him to frame the scenes with his hands à la Monk and say, “Here’s what happened.” My rewrite would have improved a somewhat weak script – it’s not the best farce ever written – but without my edit, the show still is a lot of fun. Watching these stars throw themselves into the physical humor and deliver their lines with impeccable timing is worth seeing.

Lend Me A Tenor also offers one of the most satisfying “into the curtain calls” around. Enjoy it at the Music Box Theatre, 239 West 45th St., NYC. Discounted tickets for friends of Masterwork Productions are available here.

Christians might also like to know:
• Language
• God’s name taken in vain
• Sex outside of marriage
Note: While there is a lot of sexual innuendo in the double entendre dialogue, it really is in the spirit of farce and is on the lower end of the scale for being offensive in my opinion.
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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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