Weathervane has big hit on its stage
By David Ritchey
MERRIMAN VALLEY — It’s a hit, a big hit.
Weathervane Community Playhouse’s production of “Lend Me a Tenor” attracted a full house on opening night, March 24, and word-of-mouth will keep the box office busy.
Ken Ludwig’s “Lend Me a Tenor” is a wonderful pastiche of cotton fluff. The plot is simple — the Cleveland Opera Company in 1934 hires the most outstanding tenor of the time, Tito Merelli, to sing the lead in Verdi’s “Otello.” Merelli arrives late and the misadventures begin. When he overdoses on his stomach pills, it seems Merelli won’t be able to play the role, so an understudy must take the stage. However, Merelli has a miraculous recovery and decides to take the stage. With two performers in black face attempting to sing “Otello,” the musical battles begin. The audience is fortunate to watch the glorious nonsense.
The cast of “Otello” includes the usual types who hang around theater companies. Saunders (Tom Stephan) is the manager of the opera company. He employees a theater flunky, Max (Scott Shriner). Max is in love with Maggie (Melanie Korman Roddy), who is the daughter of Saunders. Julia (Karen Wood) is chairperson of this great event.
The hotel’s bellhop (Henry Bishop) is an opera fan, who wants nothing more than to be in the great singer’s presence and, perhaps, get an autograph.
Merelli (Tim Champion) arrives with his wife, Maria (Linda Graske). To complicate matters, Diana (Amanda Davis) plays Desdemona in “Otello” and is willing to sleep her way to the Met.
This production has several things working for it besides the outstanding cast. Alan Scott Ferrall (scenic designer/ technical director) worked with a large team of volunteers to create a functional set with at least seven doors. This is one of Ferrall’s best sets because it is visually beautiful and seems strong enough to take the punishment the cast gives it during each performance. He placed a hotel bedroom and sitting room on the small Weathervane stage. Yet, the stage is never cramped, even with most of the cast on stage.
Nancy Cates (director) is at her best with sharp, physical comedies. Cates proves once again that she can keep the audience laughing and relaxed at the same time.
Cates was assisted by Alfred Anderson (opera consultant and vocal coach). Anderson should have been on stage to take a bow after Champion and Shriner concluded an operatic duet. I suspect Anderson had these men singing as they never suspected they could sing.
Cates filled the stage with some of the best performers in our area of Ohio. These performers know there is no such thing as a small role — they look for another way to make their moments on the stage memorable and to get one more laugh. At one time, the stage was filled with Stephan, Champion, Shriner, Wood, Bishop, Roddy and Graske. It doesn’t get much better than that. These performers have brought local audiences a great deal of pleasure over the past number of years. To have all of them together in one show and on stage at one time is the chocolate icing on a chocolate cake. What can be said about these clowns? They’re the best.
Davis is new to this world of
zanies. Yet, she created a character as daffy and self-centered
as the other performers brought to
the stage.
And, the audience did laugh.
People were smiling in anticipation in the lobby before
the show. At intermission we were gasping for breath.
At the end of the show, we crawled out of the theater
— spent — exhausted from laughing.
Ludwig’s farce has been
a theater favorite since it opened on Broadway in 1989.
Playwriting is difficult. Writing a farce filled with
physical comedy is almost impossible. Ludwig has done
the impossible. “Lend
Me a Tenor” is witty, intelligent and never stoops
to demean the audience or any character in the show.
Oh, yes, don’t be impatient
and leave before the curtain call. For a curtain call,
the cast does a fast, 90-second, run-through of the
show. The curtain call is worth the price of admission.
“Lend Me a Tenor”
continues through April 9. For tickets, call (330) 836-2626.
David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in
communications and is a professor
of communications at The University of Akron. He is
a member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
Scott Shriner (Max), left, and Tim Champion (Tito) star in Weathervane Community Playhouse’s production of “Lend Me a Tenor.”
Photo courtesy of Weathervane Community Playhouse
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