Ken Ludwig

Lend Me a Tenor Ken Ludwig

Comedy / 4m, 4f / Int. Nominee! Best Revival of a Play - 2010 Tony® Awards! This night in September of 1934 is the biggest in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company world famous tenor Tito Morelli is to perform Otello, his greatest role, at the gala season opener. Saunders, the General Manager, hopes this will put Cleveland on the operatic map. Morelli is late; when he finally sweeps in it is too late to rehearse with the company. Through a hilarious series of mishaps, Il Stupendo is given a double dose of tranquilizers which mix with the booze he has consumed and he passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant Max believe he is dead. What to do? Max is an aspiring singer and Saunders persuades him to get into Morelli's Otello costume and try to fool the audience into thinking he's Il Stupendo. Max succeeds admirably, but Morelli comes to and gets into his other costume. Now two Otellos are running around in costume and two women are running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with Il Stupendo! A sensation on Broadway and in London's West End, Lend Me a Tenor is guaranteed to leave your audiences teary eyed with laughter. A new production opened on Broadway during the 2010 season. "A jolly play." - The New York Times "Non stop laughter." - Variety "Uproarious! Hysterical!" - USA Today "A rib tickling comedy." - New York Post