LEND ME A TENOR
By Ken Ludwig, Directed by Desirae Moore
Greenspace Center, 815 Market St, Lewisburg
FIVE PERFORMANCES OVER TWO WEEKENDS!
Fridays, February 9 & 16, 2024 at 7:30pm
Saturdays, February 10 & 17, 2024 at 7:30pm
Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 2:30pm
LEWISBURG – Just in time for a Valentine’s Day treat, RiverStage Community Theatre will present one of the funniest Broadway comedies ever written, Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor, in Lewisburg! Performances will be at Greenspace Center, 815 Market Street, Lewisburg on Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30pm on February 9, 10, 16 and 17, and a Sunday matinee at 2:30pm on February 18. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students, with general admission seating, and they can be purchased at the door or at www.riverstagetheatre.org.
Winner of 3 Tony Awards and 4 Drama Desk Awards, Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig has been called “a furiously paced comedy” and “a roller coaster of fun” by critics and audiences since its debut over 30 years ago. The story takes all place inside a two-room hotel suite in Cleveland, Ohio, in September 1934. The struggling Cleveland Grand Opera Company is primed to welcome world-famous singer Tito Merelli to appear for a one-night benefit concert. When Tito arrives late, however, and through a hilarious series of mishaps appears to have died, the Opera Company employees’ frantic attempt to salvage the evening leads to disguises, love affairs, mistaken identities, and all of the comedic mayhem that playwright Ken Ludwig is famous for. The show is rated PG for some mild language, alcohol, and romantic situations.
“I absolutely love doing a classic, high-energy Ken Ludwig comedy like this,” said director Desirae Moore, “and we have such a hilarious cast. This is one of those shows that takes its time to get you invested in the characters and the story at the beginning, but then it is amazing how the comedy just starts to accelerate like a snowball and get more and more over-the-top until everyone is laughing out loud. We can’t wait to perform this for an audience—it is going to be so much fun.” RiverStage president Jove Graham added, “It’s always great when we can get a team of performers and artists together to give our audiences a good laugh, and this is a hysterical door-slamming farce that we’ve been wanting to do for a long time! We hope audiences will have a great time.”
The cast features 8 comedic actors, including a few new faces to RiverStage and many who have been featured in plays and musicals across our area. The tiular tenors—superstar Tito Merelli and the aspiring young assistant Max—are played by Nick Buckman and Josh Wilkinson, last seen together at RiverStage after playing Lancelot and Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot in 2022. Their paramours, Maria and Maggie, are played by Heather Swartz (Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, Wonder of the World) and Autumn Wehry, respectively and they are joined by colorful characters such as the high-strung Opera House manager Saunders (Fred Hooper), flirty diva Diana (Lindsey Sauer), the mischievous Bellhop (Ryan Workman), and the chairman of the Opera Guild, Julia (Michael Conard). The show is directed by Moore, with costumes by Lucie Alden, lighting by Cole Casimir, set by Dennis Merkle and Jove Graham, sound by Tom Simpson, and stage management by Justin Moore.
A sensation on Broadway and in London’s West End, this madcap, screwball comedy has been leaving audiences teary-eyed with laughter for over 30 years! Don’t miss this hilarious comedy–purchase your tickets here today!
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