[NEohioPAL] Review of Rabbit Run Theater's "Lend Me a Tenor"

[Bob Abelman]

Rabbit Run's 'Lend Me a Tenor' hits a grand slam

 

Bob Abelman

 

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

The Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier

Member, American Theatre Critics Association 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 8/19/11

The six doors in the gorgeous hotel room set on the Rabbit Run Theater stage suggests that some serious slamming will transpire as soon as the house lights fade.  Indeed it does.

 

Written in the 1980s, Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor is a screwball comedy in the old farce tradition of the 1930s, where a simple situation escalates to absolute anarchy and normal folks  find themselves running in circles, hiding in closets and, well, slamming doors.

 

The play's pretense is that Tito Merelli, the fiery-tempered and world famous Italian tenor, arrives in Cleveland, Ohio to appear in Verdi's Otello with the local opera troupe.  Although he is supervised by a protective and highly temperamental wife, he is rendered unfit to perform.  

 

The opera house's tyrannical business manager, Saunders, is unwilling to return the proceeds from the sold out show and reluctantly allows his insecure assistant Max, an amateur opera singer, to go on in Merelli's place under the guise of blackface makeup and costuming.  When Merelli recovers and attempts to make his presence known, mistaken identities occur, romantic complications arise, and many doors get slammed.

 

This is all very silly stuff and, as farces go, Ludwig's work is pretty mediocre fare.  The situation allows for only finite possibilities.  The writing is funny but its tendency to resort to base desires and body functions for humor keep it from venturing into the realm of the hysterical.  And the outcome is way too easy to anticipate.  

 

What makes the Rabbit Run production a full-throttled success is director Janet Shank's ability to find every moment of mayhem in the script and set them in motion with a very playful and comedy-capable ensemble. 

 

Roger Principe, as Saunders, delivers delicious slow-burn indignation that never gets tired as this enterprise grows increasingly insane.  On the other end of the emotional spectrum lies the wonderful Nancy Shimonek Brooks as Merelli's perpetually aroused wife, Maria.  Her Italian accent is one of the true pleasures of the evening.

 

Don Knepper is superb as Merelli, landing as many laughs through his well-timed, wordless reactions to others as the clever one-liners he is afforded.  Knepper owns the stage throughout the production.

 

Michael Crowley is thoroughly endearing as the self-doubting Max.  His personality transformation while in the guise of Merelli-as-Otello, aided by fine performances by Caitlin Rose as Saunders' not so innocent daughter and Evie Koh as the seductive soprano, is very well played.  

 

Matt Mortensen as the fame-infatuated bellhop and Kathe Tascone as a clueless arts patron have nice moments as well.

 

The only thing lacking from an otherwise wonderful production is the tendency to push the envelope on the physical humor.  In addition to clever wordplay, farce is funny because of sight-gags and the physicality of the players.  Characters don't just run in circles; they RUN in circles. 

 

Openings for over-the-top antics-such as when Saunders' strangles an unconscious Merelli and accosts an uncooperative bellhop, or Max's many leaps over furniture, or Maria's manic moment in the bedroom-are missed opportunities.

 

Evidence of what extreme comedy this cast is capable of can be found in the hilarious curtain call, where the play's highlights are cycled through as an abbreviated, sped-up and broadened remix.  

 

An opportunity not missed in this production is the door slamming.  The fairly recent Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor employed five doors as opposed to Rabbit Run's six, courtesy of set designer Ray Beach.  Clearly, when farce is afoot, the more doors the merrier.

 

Lend Me a Tenor continues through August 28 at Rabbit Run Theater, 5648 W. Chapel Rd., in Madison Township. For tickets, $17 to $19, call 440-428-7092 or visit www.rabbitrunonline.org.
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