Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

  

A hotel suite in Cleveland, Ohio.  1934.   Otello is set to open as a gala for the Cleveland Opera House.  Renowned opera sensation Tito Merelli is set to star.  Lights, camera, action“  Well, since this is a Ken Ludwig play, it’s more like: lights, camera, miscommunications, slamming doors, screaming, zany one-liners, blackface… action.

Originally produced on Broadway in 1989 (with an admirable revival in 2010 starring a game Tony Shalhoub and Justin Bartha), Lend Me a Tenor is now running at Brooklyn’s exceptional Gallery Players.  While not perfect – Act I is mostly a mediocre setup for the riotous and often hilarious Act II – it is certainly one of Ludwig’s best pieces.  If you’re patient throughout the first act (a somewhat corny and rambly introduction to the characters), the comic payoffs that await you in the second act are well worth it.

Tenor follows the Cleveland Grand Opera’s general manager named Saunders (Jim Shine) and his assistant Max (Joe Beurelein) as they prepare for the evening’s production.  Not only does poor Max have his boss to please but his fiancé Maggie (Amanda Pulcini) is only lukewarm about their upcoming marriage (“I said maybe,” she claims when he reminds her of the proposal).  Once Tito (Sean Patterson) arrives with his temperamental wife Maria (Marisol Miller-Wave), things obviously don’t go smoothly in the most complicated, ridiculous journey to showtime ever.  When Tito overdoses on sleeping pills, Max must go on as the star.  But alas: Tito wakes up and now we’ve got two Otellos wandering every which way.  This is where the play really takes off.  The scenes in which other characters interact with Tito or “Tito” are the most well constructed in Ludwig’s script and they are enhanced by the actors diving into this crazy world head-first.

  

The performances in Gallery Players’ version of Tenor are mixed.  Strongest are Miller-Wave and Patterson as Maria and Tito.  They make an uproarious couple that’s somehow completely believable.  They unite with a powerful chemistry, nail their accents and are fully committed to the emotional ups-and-downs written into their characters.  Moments like Patterson mixing Max’s drink with his fingers and Miller-Wave furiously banging on the bathroom door are comic gold because these actors are so specific with their choices.

Also providing numerous laughs (especially in Act II) is Pauline Walsh as Julia, the chairwoman of the opera house.  Watch as she speaks into the phone at the top of the act: it’s such a grandiose and detailed display with great facial expressions and tics.  You actually believe she is listening to someone on the other line, in comparison to Beurelein’s Max rushing through a phone conversation at the top of Act I.

Beurelein is theatrically nerdy as Max but totally unrelatable.  It’s almost as if he is remembers at various points of the show: “Oh, I should make this whacky, nerdy face here… and here… and here,” and he puts on said face randomly.  Max’s high-pitched voice and over-the-top antics grow irritating over endearing (“I can hardly speak English!!! he squeals) while his costume and huge glasses are equally overdone.  Beurelein is actually stronger once he’s impersonating Tito.  His performance is tighter and more controlled in Act II and he does a superb job mimicking Tito’s mannerisms and inflections.

I enjoyed Pulcini’s low-key turn as Maggie at times, while at other points she was low-key to the point of indifference and she could have certainly pushed the comedy further (a moment where she squeezes a pillow tightly thinking of her attraction to Tito is only halfway there).   Pulcini and Laura Lawson as Diana, the sexy ingénue, seemed to have developed characters too similar in nature.  As scripted, Diana is blasé-yet-confident while Maggie is timid-yet-sweet.  Pulcini and Lawson both land somewhere in the middle and their characters are not distinct enough -- although to Lawson’s credit, and Ludwig’s, a bit involving Tito mistaking Diana as a professional prostitute is one of the best moments of the show.

  

Jim Shine as Saunders is simply not intimidating enough.  He calls Tito an irresponsible, Italian jackass but it doesn’t land because we don’t believe this Saunders can cause any real damage.  When he begs Max on his hands and knees, it registers as awkward because there’s no real need in his voice… and when he wails and slams on the ground, it’s a tad too far – more obnoxious than funny.

Rounding out the cast is Gregory Cohan as the Bellhop, solid in a role that is easily the weakest in Ludwig’s script.  Cohan is sharp and precise as this clingy character who will stop at nothing for a few moments with Tito.

Andrew Lu’s set is perfect: a chic hotel suite with plenty of doors for actors to slam.  Joey Haws’ costumes are fitting and glamorous (minus Max’s too-nerdy ensemble).  Dominic Cuskern’s directs his cast ably; their pacing is fantastic (minus some lacking energy in Act I) and their curtain call is reason enough to head to Brooklyn for this show.  All-in-all, due to a fast-and-furious second act and the commitment of this ensemble, I can easily recommend Lend Me a Tenor.