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Lend
Me a Tenor
Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. The
play has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in
twenty-five countries. It is a popular choice of regional theatre
companies and community theatre groups. The play earned eight
Tony Award nominations, winning one for Best Actor.
Set in 1934, the farce revolves around renowned
tenor Tito Merelli, known to his fans as "Il Stupendo,"
who is scheduled to sing the lead in Otello, produced as a gala
fundraiser for the Cleveland Opera Company. Unfortunately, even
before the star leaves his hotel room, everything begins to unravel.
Chaos ensues when Merelli's wife, who has mistaken an autograph-seeker
hidden in his closet for a secret lover, leaves him a "Dear
John" letter. The distraught Merelli accidentally is given
a double dose of tranquilizers to calm him and passes out. Saunders,
the company's General Manager, is determined the show must go
on (for his own financial sake), so he asks his assistant Max
to impersonate the opera star. Max puts on the blackface makeup
required for the role of Otello, and his disguise succeeds admirably--until
Merelli, also in blackface, wakes up and heads for the stage.
What follows is a chain-reaction of mistaken identity, plot twists,
double entendres, innuendoes, and constant entrances and exits
through many doors.
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