Currently, the Cougar Theatre Company is once again hard at work on their fall play, the comedy Lend Me A Tenor. In 1934 Cleveland, Ohio, world-renowned Italian tenor Tito Merelli (played by Frankie Dige) is set to perform at the Cleveland Opera House in the opera Pagliacci. Henry Saunders (played by James Black) and his flustered and nerdy assistant Max (played by Josh Ricatti) eagerly await his arrival – along with Max’s girlfriend Maggie (played by Anastasiya Vasilenko), and daughter of Saunders, who is a huge fan of Tito Merelli and hopes to meet him. Tito eventually arrives, along with his hot-tempered wife Maria (played by Alex Risi). In hopes of making Tito feel more relaxed for the performance, Max gives Tito tranquilizer-laced wine. (Unbeknownst to either of them, Tito already took a double dose of tranquilizers to spite his wife.) Tito overdoses on tranquilizers, and Max and Saunders assume him dead. To continue with the performance and save face, the mousy and timid Max is forced to play Pagliacci in disguise as Tito Merelli. With the opera house’s seductive star soprano, Diana, (played by Jessica Terlato) willing to do anything to make it in the business, a collision of mistaken identity and scandalous events ensue. Chairwoman of the Cleveland Opera Guild Julia Leverett (played by Iyun Franklyn-Ayeni) also has her sights set on Tito helping her succeed. Not to mention an obnoxious opera fan bellhop (played by Matty Faber) who keeps showing up at the hotel suite at the wrong moment trying to get an autograph and a photo of Tito Merelli. With this cast of hectic characters and nefarious innuendoes, this show is one not to be missed.
This particular production is a historic one for CTC, the first one in notable history to contain an understudy cast. There are understudies exclusively for the female cast members, who will be performing on the Friday, December 1st performance. They are listed as follows:
Maggie U/S – Reese Figueiredo
Maria U/S – Nika Berg
Diana U/S – Gianna Canova
Julia U/S – Ria Karam
This story takes place exclusively in a hotel suite, one side the living room and the other the bedroom. A center wall divides the two rooms, with the audience getting a clear view of both sides, adding extreme dramatic irony. This is being built by the hardworking tech crew, led by Mr. Niemierowski. The cast is hard at work on this comedy under the direction of Mrs. Herron. This show contains door-slamming, chasing, risque conflicts, and hilarious jokes making this show unbelievably entertaining. Anyone who enjoys a fun situational comedy with witty banter should come to see this show performed by a stellar (not to mention Basie Award-nominated and winning) cast.
Show dates are November 30th, December 1st, and December 2nd (main cast on the 30th and 2nd, understudy cast on the 1st) at 7:00 pm in the Colts Neck High School Auditorium. Tickets are $12 each and will be sold for general admission at the door.
