Theatre Bacchus is proud to announce…
AUDITIONS for our SPRING PRODUCTION!
Lend Me a Tenor
by
Ken Ludwig
On a very important night for the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, Tito Mirelli, the world-famous Italian tenor, is set to perform the starring role in Pagliacci. Henry Saunders -- General Manager of the company -- is beyond stressed about everything turning out right, and insists that his assistant, Max -- a nervous, young fellow and secret tenor extraordinaire -- watch over Tito’s every move to ensure smooth sailing. After a huge fight with his fiery, Italian wife Maria, Tito receives a double dose of tranquilizers through a series of mishaps. Throw in Diana, an ambitious, female co-star; Maggie, Max’s giddy girlfriend; Julia, a flirty head of the opera guild; and a meddling bellhop fighting for Tito’s attention, and together, you have a recipe for comedic disaster. Max navigates the company through one catastrophe after the next -- an angry wife, a presumed death, crazy costumes, secret sex romps, and loads and loads of slamming doors and mistaken identities -- and, ultimately, takes on the role of Pagliacci to great effect. Together, Max and Saunders find a way to save the Opera Company’s big night in grand, farcical fashion.
Nominated for 9 Tony Awards, with a revival in 2010, directed by Stanley Tucci with Tony Shaloub as Saunders, this show this show has been revised in 2019 to feature the opera, “Pagliacci”.
Characters (4m, 4f):
Saunders: (mid 50’s to 60’s), Maggie’s Father, authoritarian, General Manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera House. A blowhard who often loses his temper at the slightest mishap, manipulative, bossy. North American accent.
Max Garber: (30’s) Assistant to Saunders, and in love with Saunders’s daughter Maggie, Max has much more talent than is apparent. A nerdy, rumpled, nervous man with low confidence in no small part due to working for his girlfriend's father, who misses no opportunity to keep Max in his place. Singing role in Italian for part of the play, also needs to put on a fake Italian accent for part of the play. Otherwise, North American accent.
Tito Merelli: (late 40’s to 50’s) A world famous Italian tenor “Il Stupendo”, hot-blooded Italian ladies' man stubborn husband of Maria. A real DIVO! A singing role in Italian with Italian accent.
Maria: (late 30’s to early 50’s) Tito’s wife, Italian accent, proud and excitable, suspicious of her husband’s fidelity; with a quick temper!
Maggie Saunders: (late 20’s to early 30’s) Saunders’s daughter, Max’s girlfriend. Maggie is attracted to Max, but isn’t sure she is love. She, instead, says she needs to be “swept off her feet” before settling down. A lover of opera, and of Tito’s voice.
Bellhop: (any age) A comic relief character who has an ongoing feud with Saunders. An obnoxious opera fan, the bellhop keeps showing up at the hotel suite at the wrong moment, trying to get an autograph and a photo of Tito Merelli.
Diana Bateman: (mid 30’s) Diva of the Cleveland Opera House, Diana has a “thing” for the great Il Stupendo, Tito Merelli. A beautiful and sexy soprano of the Opera House; a seductive woman who knows how to use it. Non-singing role. North American accent.
Julia: (late 40’s-50’s) Chairwoman of the Opera Guild; very proper with a pompous yet airy demeanour, who considers herself a "grande dame."
SHOW DATES:
April 26, 27, 28 and May 3,4,5, for a total of 8 performances
Performances at Vieni Estates Winery 4553 Fly Rd., Beamsville
Rehearsals 3x/wk at St. Philippe Parish Hall, 472 Locust St. Burlington beginning in February.
Non-union
Profit Share
Audition via self-tape submission, due: Feb. 9
Or in-person at St. Philippe Parish Hall on: Feb. 7 and 9, evenings starting at 7 pm (appt. required)
Please note that actors interested in the part of Tito or Max must be prepared to sing something of their own choice a cappella. You do not have to be an opera singer. Vocal coaching will be provided. The duet from Verdi’s opera “Don Carlo” (“Dio, che nell’alma infondere”, Act II, Sc. I) is the only piece that is sung in the play.
To request sides, to set up an audition appointment, or for any inquiries contact Lana Borsellino via theatrebacchus@gmail.com