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.
But what gives this production an unexpected boost is something not usually found in a farce — heart. That quality is supplied by Bartha, making his Broadway debut as the nervous would-be tenor. The actor is a superb farceur, at ease with the verbal complexity of the give-and-take dialogue and the physical demands of the role that have him bouncing around the stage.
The thunderous ovation that occurs at the conclusion of the new Broadway revival of Ken Ludwig's now-classic farce, Lend Me a Tenor, is the kind usually reserved for an opera virtuoso or a showstopping bit of stagecraft, like a falling chandelier or an onstage helicopter. But the crackerjack cast of this latest Tenor earns their rapturous applause by using perhaps the most old-fashioned bit of showstopping stagecraft there is: superlative acting. Theirs is comic playing of the highest order, and their inspired, go-for-broke performances propel the audience to the heights of comic ecstasy.
1989 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2010 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Stanley Tucci |
2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Jan Maxwell |
2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Martin Pakledinaz |
2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Jan Maxwell |
2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | 0 |
2010 | The Hewes Awards | Costume Design | Martin Pakledinaz |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Martin Pakledinaz |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Jan Maxwell |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Broadway Across America |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | The Shubert Organization |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Wendy Federman/Jamie deRoy/Richard Winkler |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Lisa Cartwright |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Spring Sirkin |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Scott and Brian Zeilinger |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Olympus Theatricals |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Rodney Rigby |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Carl Moellenberg |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Stuart Thompson |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | The Araca Group |
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