Comedy tests both director and actor, and when it works, it is a pure pleasure. Lend Me a Tenor, at the Coronado Playhouse, under Bob Christiansen's direction, works. It works because it is well cast and well directed. Convinced that sold-out houses will continue, the show has been extended an additional two weeks from the original May 11 close to May 25, 2003.
Playwright Ken Ludwig developed a simple plot. A visiting, world-renowned tenor is doing a one- nighter in 1930s Cleveland. He becomes indisposed. Aspiring local tenor, Max, offers to fill in. The humor begins on a high note of humor and builds. Shtick builds on shtick, with the cast giving just the right comedic twist. The second act is a virtual lexicon of double entendres.
Tenor brings David A. Ainsworth, as Max, and Dave Rivas, as that famous Italian tenor, Tito, together again. Ainsworth gives Max a delightful shyness and insecurity with his mentor and a boldness with his girlfriend who is also his mentor's daughter, Maggie (Maria Santilena). Santilena plays a proper young lady determined to have a "fling" before she settles down with Max. The two make a delightful couple, quite properly matched in talent.
Enter Tito and his lovely wife Maria, Christina Christianson, and the sparks fly. Tito has a bit of a problem with the fermented grape, as well as a wandering eye. Maria has a meteoric temper, so their arguments are classic. Christianson in brilliant as the often irate Italian wife. Rivas counters her every move. Their portrayal contrasts delightfully with Ainsworth and Santilena's romantic bantering.
The masterpiece of character work, however, is the sparring between Tito and Max. Rivas and Ainsworth develop their roles to the max (pardon the pun). They are physical; they dance, they exercise, they sing, and they struggle. They both deserve kudos for some of the best cometic acting and antics of the season.
Lend Me a Tenor demands talent in-depth and this cast delivers. Jeff Laurence, as Saunders, portrays a uptight, concerned opera promoter, and frustrated father. He takes straight lines and presents them perfectly, eliciting the right audience reactions. Kevin J. McCloskey, as the overbearing bellhop, delights. Jeanne Danis, who has graced Coronado Playhouse stage for 45 years, is charming as opera dowager, Julia. Lastly, as the lovely singer Diana, Jennifer Campbell Matlock offers the audience a titillating performance as the seductress who wants Tito any way she can get him.
Set designer Rosemary King provides a simple hotel suite done in pastels -- complete sitting room, bedroom, closet, and two bathrooms. Set Dresser Suzanne Sebenaler give the two rooms a typical, not overdone appearance, complete with a period floor-model radio. Michael Shapiro's music selections set the mood. Lighting Designer Dan Zisko provides a few lighting tricks, accenting some high points in the play. Cornell Ellison and Carolyn Wheat Koenig and their staff created an accurate array of costumes.
With Lend Me a Tenor, director Christiansen provides an excellently paced comedy. (I did wish that the players would consistently hold a line for the applause to subside -- this is always critical.) Still, the team behind the director and cast did a stellar job.
