‘Lend Me a Tenor’

David Saint directs a revival of the fast-paced farce at George Street Playhouse.

By: Stuart Duncan

Maria Testa and Patrick Quinn star in the farcical ‘Lend Me a Tenor’ at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick.

   In days of yore, a generation was said to be 20 years. Apparently in the theater world it is briefer. It has only been 16 years since Lend Me a Tenor opened on Broadway in March 1989, and New Brunswick’s George Street Playhouse is staging a revival that rumor has it has backing for Broadway once again. The original show was nominated for seven Tony Awards and won two, plus four Drama Desk Awards and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. In the meantime it has been produced around the world in eight languages and on community stages across the U.S.
   Back in 1989, George Street’s artistic director, David Saint, was working on the West Coast and staged the Los Angeles production (right after Broadway), followed by the national tour. He has always wanted to bring the show to New Brunswick and was just waiting for the right time. The fact that many of the opening-night audience never had seen the show seemed to prove that the timing is right.
   To remind you: the time is the depression year of 1934 and the place is a hotel in Cleveland, specifically a suite decorated in Art Deco style. The famous Italian tenor Tito Merelli is scheduled to sing at a fund-raiser for the Cleveland Opera Company — 1,000 persons at $50 a head. The performance will be Otello and the shrimp mayonnaise has already been prepared. The star not only arrives late, but with a sour belly from overeating. All he needs is a little rest and, perhaps, a sedative. Well, he takes a few more than needed, passes out and everyone thinks he is dead. You can see it coming and still you roar in pleasure.
   The mayhem begins — the opera’s general manager is close to a burst blood vessel; the company’s everyday factotum takes over, since, after all, Otello is performed in black face so who will know; the pretty daughter of the general manager can’t wait for Merelli to notice her; the company’s soprano has similar notions; and even the hotel bellhop wants Merelli’s approval. The set has six doors and they open and slam more than 90 times. That’s farce at its wildest.
   By Act II we have two Otellos running around, both in full costume, both in makeup and the confusion mounts. We have girls undressed in bathrooms, closets and sometimes in plain sight. It all gets settled happily, of course, and the opera patrons are completely satisfied and so are both Otellos. More important, so are we.
   It takes a cast trained for high-paced farce to pull all the laughs from Ken Ludwig’s script and this company is ready for the challenge. Romain Frugé and Garrett Long play Max and Maggie, tentative lovers and the lynchpins of this production. Patrick Quinn, who once played Max, now plays Tito Merelli and handles it with aplomb. Mary Testa steals scenes with single grunts as his much abused wife, Maria. Alison Fraser come as close to wardrobe malfunction as the local authorities permit as the company’s soprano, determined to make it to the Met. Alix Elias has great fun as the chairman of the local opera guild.
   But it is Peter Maloney, as Saunders, the general manager, who steals the evening with sheer energy and a delicious sense of the bizarre. It is a role that sometimes is little but bluster, but Mr. Maloney plays it with such passion that one laughs to the point of helplessness.
   Incidentally, playwright Ken Ludwig divides his time between writing for the theater and working as a lawyer in Washington, D.C.
Lend Me a Tenor continues at George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, through March 6. Performances: Tues.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 2, 7 p.m.; Feb. 17, 2 p.m.; Feb. 26, March 5, 2 p.m. Tickets cost $28-$56. For information, call (732) 246-7717. On the Web: www.gsponline.org