Lend Me a Tenor

*Lend Me a Tenor* is a feel-good, farcical musical comedy, a tale of unexpected romance, hilarious gags, and mistaken identity. Set in the early 1930s, an opera house is on the verge of disaster when the principal tenor is unable to perform. Still, the show must go on, and the opera managers must scramble to find a replacement before all is lost. With a lively cast of over-the-top characters, up-beat tunes, and a penchant for mayhem, *Lend Me a Teno*r, by Ken Ludwig, is an energetic, laugh-filled romp for the whole family.

## **Cast**

* Frank Blomgren as Manager Henry Saunders
* Birch Carlson as Chairman Julia Leverett
* Nick Hager as Max Garber
* Alison Haider as Maggie Saunders
* Tania Larson Legvold as Soprano Diana Divane
* Greg Muth as Frank the Bellhop
* Bryan Reed as Signor Tito Merelli/Il Stupendo
* Laura Schaubschlager as Signora Maria Merelli

## **Crew**

Directed by

* Marc Robinson (Director)
* Kosmo Esplan (Assistant Director)

Stage Managed by

* Susan Carlson

Produced by

* Lori Middeldorp (Co-Producer)
* Maria Reverman (Co-Producer)

Costumes by

* Cindy Robinson (Costume Designer & Technician)
* Sarah Bardenwerper (Costume Assistant & Technician)
* Patsy Dew (Costume Technician)
* Marcia Jacobs (Costume Technician)
* Mary Loven (Costume Technician)
* Grace Muth (Costume Technician)

Makeup & Hair by

* Tabitha Herrlich (Makeup Designer)
* Rachel Haider (Hair Assistant) (Uncredited)

Lights & Sound by

* J.J. McNulty (Lighting Designer)
* Marc Robinson (Sound Designer)
* Maggie Muth (Light Board Operator)
* Aila Hakala (Sound Board Operator)
* Kosmo Esplan (Sound Assistant) (Uncredited)

Set by

* Marc Robinson (Set Designer)
* Tony Lott (Set Designer/Master Builder)
* Frank Blomgren (Building Crew)
* Kosmo Esplan (Building Crew)
* Alison Haider (Building Crew)
* Dean Lamp (Building Crew)
* Nick Lott (Building Crew)
* Autumn Mastin (Building Crew)
* Sam Mastin (Building Crew)
* Eddie Mueller (Building Crew)
* Greg Muth (Building Crew)
* James Muth (Building Crew)
* David Reitz (Building Crew)
* Laura Schaubschlager (Building Crew)
* Zack Sommer (Building Crew)
* Larry Tolle (Building Crew)
* Marc Robinson (Master Painter) (Uncredited)

Photography by

* Elin Odegaard (Promo Shot Photographer)
* Maria Reverman (Headshot & Archival Photographer)

Posters by

* Brent Kivell

Props by (Uncredited)

* Susan Carlson (Props Assistant)
* Kosmo Esplan (Props Assistant)
* Alison Haider (Props Assistant)
* Autumn Mastin (Props Assistant)
* Marc Robinson (Props Assistant)
* Laura Schaubschlager (Props Assistant)

Original Song Written by (Uncredited)

* Marc Robinson

Special Thanks

* St. Olaf Theater Department
* Todd Edwards
* Marketplace@416
* Luis Enrique
* Susan Carlson
* Jessica Minder
* Naurine Lennox
* Paradise Center for the Arts
* Little Theatre of Owatonna
* Sarah Bardenwerper
* Paula Granquist and ArtZany at 95.1 FM The One
* Our Front of House Volunteers
* Anyone we may have inadvertently missed

## **Setting**

A hotel suite in Cleveland in 1934.

Act 1, Scene 1

* An early afternoon on a Saturday in September

Act 1, Scene 2

* Four hours later

Act 2, Scene 1

* That night about 11:00 P.M. (about four hours later)

Act 2, Scene 2

* Fifteen minutes later

## **Performances**

* Friday, February 14, 2020 at 7:30pm (Opening Night Reception) (Sold Out)

* Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 7:30pm

* Sunday, February 16, 2020 at 2:00pm (Post-Show Discusson)
* Friday, February 21, 2020 at 7:30pm
* Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 7:30pm
* Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 2:00pm

Venue: Northfield Arts Guild Theater, 411 Third Street W., Northfield, MN

Tickets:

* $17.00 for adults
* $12.00 for seniors/students

## **Mentioned**

Nedda (from *Pagliacci*)

* by Max

"The Guy Who Plays Tonio"

* by Max

Pagliacci (from *Pagliacci*)

* by Saunders, Max, and Julia

Max's Mother (Mrs. Garber)

* by Max

Aunt Harriet Garber

* by Max

Uncle Bud Garber

* by Max

"A Policeman"

* by Julia

Harry

* by Maggie

Don Jose (from *Carmen*)

* by Max

Rudolpho (from *La Boheme*)

* by Max

Tito's Agent

* by Diana and Tito

## **Songs, Singer, Length, and Place & Time**

### All are sung a-cappella unless marked

"Preshow Song" (Music & Lyrics by Marc Robinson)

* Birch Carlson
* Four minutes
* Before the show; in the aisle
* With piano recording

"La Donna è Mobile"

* Tito
* One minute
* Act 1, Scene 1; on the radio in the sitting room
* With orchestra recording

"Largo al factotum"

* Bellhop
* Five seconds
* Act 1, Scene 1; in the sitting room

"Largo al factotum" (Reprise)

* Bellhop
* Five seconds
* Act 1, Scene 1; the bedroom

"Dio, che nell'alma infondere"

* Max
* Two seconds
* Act 1, Scene 1; the sitting room

"Dio, che nell'alma infondere" (Reprise)

* Max and Tito
* Three minutes
* Act 1, Scene 1; the sitting room
* With orchestra recording

"Dio, che nell'alma infondere" (Reprise #2)

* Max
* One minute
* Transition from Act 1, Scene 1 into Act 1, Scene 2; the bedroom
* With orchestra recording

"Largo al factotum" (Reprise #2)

* Bellhop
* Five seconds
* Act 1, Scene 2; the sitting room

"Dio, che nell'alma infondere" (Reprise #3)

* Max
* One minute
* Act 1, Scene 2; the entire suite (a recording that is not sung live)
* With orchestra recording

"Vesti la giubba"

* Max (as Tito)
* Ten seconds
* Act 2, Scene 1; the sitting room (sung to Maggie)

"Vesti la giubba" (Reprise)

* Bellhop
* Ten seconds
* Act 2, Scene 1; the sitting room (sung to Max as Tito)

"Da quel di che t'incontrai"

* A recording
* Thirty seconds
* Act 2, Scene 1; the entire suite (a recording that is not sung live)
* With orchestra recording

"Toreador Song"

* Max (as Tito)
* Fifteen seconds
* Act 2, Scene 2; the sitting room

"Vesti la giubba" (Reprise #2)

* Max
* Ten seconds
* Act 2, Scene 2; the sitting room (sung to Maggie)

"Curtain Call Song"

* Instrumental
* One minute and twenty-five seconds
* Curtain Call; the entire suite
* With orchestra recording

## **Costumes**

Max

* Plaid outfit
* Pagliacci clown costume
* Tuxedo

Saunders

* Business suit
* Tuxedo

Tito

* Afternoon suit
* Pagliacci clown costume

Maggie

* Purple dress
* Evening gown with slip underneath

Diana

* Sparkly purple dress
* Red evening dress
* Towel
* Slip

Maria

* Afternoon outfit

Julia

* "The Chrysler Building" dress straight from Paris

Bellhop

* Bellhop suit

## **Enter/Exit Plot**

Act 1, Scene 1

* Max enters the sitting room
* Saunders enters the sitting room
* Maggie exits the sitting room
* Maggie enters the bedroom
* Saunders exits the sitting room
* Maggie exits into the bathroom
* Saunders, Maria, and Tito enter the sitting room
* Maggie enters the bedroom
* Maggie hides in the closet
* Tito exits into the bathroom
* Bellhop enters the sitting room
* Maggie emerges from the closet
* Maggie hides in the closet
* Bellhop exits the sitting room
* Tito enters the bedroom and then the sitting room
* Saunders exits the sitting room
* Maria exits into the bathroom
* Maria enters the bedroom
* Maggie emerges from the closet
* Maria and Maggie exit the bedroom
* Max and Tito exit into the kitchenette
* Max and Tito enter the sitting room
* Max exits into the kitchenette
* Max enters the sitting room and then the bedroom

Act 1, Scene 2

* Diana enters the sitting room
* Diana exits the sitting room
* Max exits into the kitchenette
* Max enters the sitting room
* Saunders enters the sitting room
* Max exits into the bathroom
* Julia enters the sitting room
* Bellhop enters the sitting room
* Maggie enters the sitting room
* Saunders and Bellhop exit into the kitchenette
* Saunders and Bellhop enter the sitting room
* Max enters the bedroom
* Bellhop exits the sitting room
* Saunders and Julia exit the sitting room
* Maggie exits the sitting room
* Max exits the sitting room

Intermission

* Tito exits the bedroom

Act 2, Scene 1

* Julia and Maggie enter the sitting room
* Julia exits the sitting room
* Max enters the sitting room
* Saunders enters the sitting room
* Maggie exits the sitting room
* Tito enters the bedroom
* Saunders exits the sitting room
* Tito hides in the closet
* Max exits into the bathroom
* Max enters the bedroom
* Max exits the bedroom
* Tito emerges from the closet
* Julia enters the sitting room
* Julia exits the sitting room
* Diana enters the sitting room
* Diana exits into the bathroom
* Maggie enters the sitting room
* Maggie hides in the closet
* Saunders enters the sitting room
* Max enters the sitting room
* Tito exits the bedroom
* Bellhop enters the sitting room
* Bellhop exits the sitting room
* Saunders exits the sitting room
* Max exits into the bathroom
* Maggie emerges from the closet
* Max enters the bedroom
* Maggie exits into the kitchenette
* Diana enters the bedroom
* Diana exits into the bathroom
* Maggie enters the sitting room
* Tito enters the bedroom
* Diana enters the bedroom

Act 2, Scene 2

* Diana exits into the bathroom
* Maggie exits into the kitchenette
* Tito exits the bedroom
* Diana enters the bedroom and then the sitting room
* Maggie enters the sitting room
* Max exits into the bathroom
* Maria enters the sitting room
* Tito, Saunders, Julia, and Bellhop enter the sitting room
* Max enters the bedroom

* Tito and Maria exit the sitting room
* Julia exits the sitting room
* Saunders and Diana exit the sitting room

Curtain Call

* Saunders enters the sitting room
* Maria and Tito enter the sitting room
* Maggie hides in the closet
* Bellhop enters the bedroom
* Bellhop exits the bedroom
* Saunders exits the sitting room
* Maria exits into the bathroom
* Maria enters the bedroom
* Maggie emerges from the closet
* Maria and Maggie exit the bedroom
* Diana enters the sitting room
* Diana exits the sitting room
* Saunders exits the bedroom
* Max exits into the bathroom
* Julia, Bellhop, and Maggie enter the sitting room
* Max enters the bedroom
* Julia, Bellhop, Maggie, Saunders, and Max exit the sitting room
* Julia enters the sitting room
* Julia exits the sitting room
* Diana enters the bedroom
* Maggie enters the sitting room
* Max enters the sitting room
* Tito exits the sitting room
* Max exits into the bathroom
* Maria enters the bedroom
* Tito, Saunders, Julia, and Bellhop enter the sitting room and then the bedroom
* Max enters the bedroom
* Bellhop, Julia, and Diana exit the bedroom
* Saunders, Maria, and Tito exit the sitting room

## **Curtain Call**

In the curtain call (before bows), actors are supposed to act out the entire show in eighty-five seconds. Instructions are as follow:

1. Maggie swoons with pleasure to unheard music as Max turns off the radio, cueing the start of the music.
2. Max picks up the phone and reacts to Saunders' yell as Saunders enters and points to the door, indicating Maggie to leave. Maggie enters straight to the bedroom and into the closet.
3. Max answers the phone again while Maria and Tito enter and fling their coats at Max. The Bellhop enters the bedroom from the corridor and then opens the sitting room/bedroom door and Max throws the coats to him.
4. Meanwhile, Maria and Tito argue as the Bellhop gives the coats to Maggie in the closet and exits. Maria enters the bathroom through the bedroom and Saunders exits after picking up the phone. Simultaneously, Max and Tito shake themselves, burst out singing, and stir each other's drink with their index finger.
5. Maria walks out of the bathroom, opens the closet door to find Maggie and exits with her. Tito enters the bedroom, sees Maria's note, cries "NO!" and collapses on the bed. After being kissed by the in-and-out Diana, Max enters the bedroom to find Tito "dead".
6. Saunders enters the bedroom, shakes Tito's supposed corpse, and throws the Pagliacci hat to Max, who exchanges it for Tito's pill bottle. Max exits into the bedroom while Saunders goes into the sitting room and opens the sitting room/corridor door.
7. Julia, the Bellhop, and Maggie (with the rose) all enter. Saunders grabs and chases the Bellhop, who stops to take a photo of everyone just as Max enters the bedroom from the bathroom with the Pagliacci hat on. He takes mimes a pound on the "wall" separating the sitting room and the bathroom, shrugs, and walks through it.
8. Maggie throws the rose to Max, who indicates that he'll do the opera. At the same time, Tito gets up from the bed and enters the sitting room. Julia enters the sitting room and yells "Boo!" at Tito, who points at the door, forcing her to leave.
9. Tito enters the bedroom to find Diana entering from the bathroom while Maggie emerges from the kitchenette and waits for Max, still wearing the Pagliacci hat. Both women push the men onto the bed/sofa.
10. Maggie exits back into the kitchenette while Diana and Tito go into the sitting room. Tito sees Max, screams, and exits into the corridor. Maggie enters the sitting room again and Max tosses the champagne bottle to her while pushing Diana onto the sofa and running into the bathroom.
11. Maggie and Diana run after Max as Maria enters the bedroom from the corridor. Diana and Maggie point (Maggie points with the bottle) while Tito, Saunders, Julia, and the Bellhop all enter the sitting room and chase into the bedroom.
12. Maria knocks at the bathroom door and Max emerges, not wearing the hat anymore. Everyone cheers and exits -- the Bellhop, Julia, and Diana through the bedroom/corridor door and Saunders, Maria, and Tito through thee sitting room/corridor door.
13. Max and Maggie glide back into the sitting room with Saunders, Maria, and Tito and Maggie puts her champagne bottle back into the bucket while they exit. Finally, Maggie and Max kiss and the music ends.

## **Bows**

All bows happen after the curtain call is finished.

* Max and Maggie, still onstage, bow first in the center of the stage.

* Tito and Maria enter through the sitting room/corridor door and bow the the right of Max and Maggie.
* Saunders and Julia enter through the bedroom/corridor door and bow to the left of Max and Maggie.
* Diana enters through the kitchenette and the Bellhop enters through the bathroom. Both bow on opposite ends.
* The actors take a final group bow and gesture to the tech booth.
* If wanted, the cast can all run into a random door and then enter from a different door, bowing in an unspecified position.

## **Synopsis**

Act 1, Scene 1

Max Garber, a nervous young man and assistant to Henry Saunders, manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company who has invited the world-famous Italian opera tenor Tito Merelli (also known as Il Stupendo to his many fans) to perform the title role in *Pagliacci* in honor of their tenth anniversary season, enters the sitting room in Tito's hotel suite to find Maggie Saunders (Max's girlfriend and Saunders' daughter) listening to Merelli's music on the radio. Max turns off the radio and tells Maggie that he wasn't at the train station.

Saunders calls the suite and curses at Max, hanging up the phone.

## **Quotes**

Act 1, Scene 1

* Saunders: Well, it appears that the Opera Guild Collation Committee has decided to serve shrimp mayonnaise at the intermission. The refrigerator has broken down and the temperature backstage is a hundred degrees.
* Max: So what do we do?
* Saunders: Well, we play it by ear. If the shrimp stays pink, the audience gets it; if it turns green, we feed it to the stagehands.
* Saunders: [to the audience] Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention. I regret to inform you that Tito Merelli, the greatest opera star of our generation slated to make his debut with the Cleveland Grand Opera Company this evening in honor of our tenth anniversary season, is regrettably indisposed this evening. But. BUT . . . I have the privilege to announce that the leading role tonight will be sung by a somewhat gifted amateur making his very first appearance on this, or indeed on any other, stage; our company's very own factotum, gopher, and all-purpose dogsbody Max. [to Max] Now, do you see the problem?
* Max: I guess so.
* Saunders: Old women would be trampled to death in the stampede up the aisles.
* Max: I see what you mean.
* Maria: [to Max; about Tito] He eats like a-fat pig. We have food on the train, he eats too much. Then we arrive and he wants a-lunch. "Don't eat," I tell him, "you'll get sick, you won't be happy." He eats like a-pig. Two plates. Why, eh? Why? Because he wants a-bosoms.
* Max: [shocked] Bosoms?
* Maria: He wants a-bosoms. Is that normal? You tell a-me, eh?
* Max: Well, I would say it's unusual.
* Saunders: [entering the sitting room] What is so unusual, Max?
* Max: Well, Mr. Merelli, apparently he'd like to have . . . bosoms.
* Saunders: [also surprised] Oh. Well, that's wonderful.
* Maria: The waitress, eh? She leans a-way over. "You wanna seconds?" He likes a-bosoms, he says "sure". He's not hungry, he just wants a-more bosoms.
* Max: Oh.
* Saunders: I see.
* Maria: [to Saunders] You got a-women in the opera?
* Saunders: Women? Why, of course. Fourteen.
* Maria: [about Tito] He wouldn't miss it, believe me. You know why, eh? Because he's got a . . . he's got a. . . . What's the word? Starts a-with "P".
* Saunders: P?
* Max: Pride?
* Saunders: Personality!
* Maria: All men, they got this thing. It starts a-small, gets a-big, and makes a-trouble.
* Saunders: [desperately trying to think of something with Max] P. . . .
* Max: Power?
* Maria: Passion! He's got a-big passion!

Act 1, Scene 2

* [the phone rings, waking Max up]
* Max: [answering it] Hello?
* Bellhop: [singing through the phone] *Largo al factotum, della citta, largo, la la la, la la la* --
* Max: Thank you --
* Bellhop: It's six-thirty, this is your wakeup call!
* Maggie: [to Saunders] Daddy, what's the matter? Has something happened?
* [a slight pause]
* Saunders: No.
* Julia: He's been under a great deal of strain lately, haven't you, Henry?
* Saunders: No!
* Bellhop: Yes you have, Henry, I can tell.
* Maggie: [to "Tito" Max] Oh, Mr. Merelli, I've got to talk to you!
* Max: We talk a-later, eh?
* Maggie: But it's about your wife! I did something terrible --
* Max: Moggie, please! There are times when we don't look forward and we don't look back. And for that one moment, we have a-music, eh? We have a-happiness. We have a-hope. That's all.
* Maggie: [hands him a rose] This is for you.
* Max: *Grazie*.

Act 2, Scene 1

* Diana: Was I good tonight?
* Tito: Good?
* Diana: I'm sure it's difficult to make any lasting judgements having done it with me only once, but would you say I was . . . exciting tonight?
* Tito: . . . We spent some time together, eh?
* Diana: We certainly did!
* Tito: Yeah.
* Diana: Now, I want the truth. Just take the big moment at the end. Would you say it was something special?
* Tito: I think I know why you are here, eh?
* Maggie: I guess you do.
* Tito: You want a-my autograph.
* Maggie: Is that what they call it in Italian?
* Tito: In Italian it is *autografo*.
* Max: That's what I wanted to tell you. He's gone!
* Saunders: Who?
* Max: Tito!
* Saunders: Max, we all have to go sometime.
* Max: No, I mean he's not in the bed!

Act 2, Scene 2

* Diana: I bet you don't feel tired anymore, do you?
* Tito: [clearly exhausted] No . . . no.

## **Trivia**

* Ken Ludwig also wrote *Leading Ladies*, which The Merlin Players performed at Paradise Center for the Arts in October/November 2018.
* Frank Blomgren (*Death of a Salesman*, *The Odyssey*), Greg Muth (*Cabaret*, *Too Clever by Half: Diary of a Scoundrel*, *Death of a Salesman*), Alison Haider (*Death of a Salesman*), Birch Carlson (*The Odyssey*), and Tania Larson Legvold (*Too Clever by Half: Diary of a Scoundrel*) all had previously worked with director Marc Robinson before.
* The only other Northfield Arts Guild show Nick Hager has performed in was *Measure for Measure* in 2012, which was directed by stage manager Susan Carlson.
* Costume designer Cindy Robinson is Marc Robinson's wife.
* This is Cindy Robinson's second time fully costuming a show after taking the lead on *The Odyssey*.
* Maggie Muth, the light board operator, is Greg Muth's real life daughter.
* Grace Muth, Maggie's sister and Greg's daughter, helped with constructing the costumes.
* James Muth, another one of Greg's children and Maggie and Grace's brother, helped build the set.
* Assistant director Kosmo Esplan counted how many times a door closes in the show, which ended up being 121.