Act II says 'Lend Me a Tenor'
Farce opens Friday in St. Peters
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| Roy Sykes photo - Act II Community Theater presents "Lend Me a Tenor" at the St. Peters Community & Arts Center. |
The show opens Friday and runs this weekend and next at the St. Peters Community & Arts Center, 1035 St. Peters-Howell Road. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays with 2 p.m. matinees on Sunday.
Sam Hack, artistic director of Clayton Community Theater, has been tapped to direct the play. "I've worked several times with Act II before, and it's always been a good experience," he said. "It's a lot of people doing what they love, and that makes great art."Written by Ken Ludwig, "Lend Me a Tenor" opened on Broadway in 1989 and went on to win two Tony Awards and four Drama Desk Awards that year.
"It's an extremely well-written comedy," Hack said. "I love opera and it's rooted in opera. It's been fun to work on."
The play is set in 1934 in Cleveland, where renowned tenor Tito Morelli has been brought in to sing the lead in "Otello" at a gala fundraiser for the Cleveland Opera Company.
Distraught about a letter from his wife, Morelli takes too many tranquilizers and passes out shortly before the curtain rises. To keep things going, the company's general manger sends his assistant onstage to impersonate the opera star.
As with many a farce, it all leads to mistaken identities, plot twists, innuendoes and mass confusion.
"There are disguises and identity confusion that leads to a lot of funny stuff," Hack said. "It's a high-speed, very funny farce that's also about very human characters and human relationships."
The cast features Charles Harris as Tito, Christopher Resimius as Max, Joe O'Connor as Saunders, Lia Guagliardo as Maria, Nieccole Hilliard as Maggie, Karen Burton as Diana, Jessie Resimius as Julia and Paul Kruta as the bellhop.
Assisting Hack with the production are Nicki Rupe, assistant director, and Marilyn Albert-Hack, assistant to the director. Debi Gravemann serves as producer.
Hack, who directed theater at Hancock High School in St. Louis County from 1980 to 2004, had a reunion working on the show. "Charles Harris was my student 20 years ago," he said. "This is my first time working with Charles since he graduated high school. That's been especially exciting for me."
The group has been working together since late August. "We were able to cast wonderfully from the group that came to auditions," Hack said. "Everyone has been very diligent and given 100 percent. I think it will be a great show."
Want to go?
Lend Me a Tenor
WHEN: 8 p.m. Nov. 2-3, 9-10; 2 p.m. Nov. 3, 11
WHERE: St. Peters Community & Arts Center, 1035 St. Peters-Howell Road, St. Peters
COST: $15 adults; $12 seniors, students
INFORMATION/TICKETS: 1-800-838-3006, www.act2theater.com
