Get ready to be tear-eyed with laughter. The madcap, screwball comedy stage play Lend Me A Tenor will be performed by Gold Camp Players community theatre on March 10-12, 2017 at the Historic Homestake Opera House located at 313 West Main Street, Lead.
The hysterical stage play is directed by David Scherer of Lead, SD.
“This is the time of the year folks are ready for a break from winter and Lend me a Tenor is a good prescription,” says Scherer, who also plays the role of a world-famous opera star, Tito Morelli. “There is nothing like a bit of laughter to shake off the winter doldrums.”
Lend Me A Tenor, written by Ken Ludwig, is three-time Tony Award winning comedy. Six performances of the hilarious stage play will be offered, with showtimes on Friday and Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.
The play is “a rollercoaster of fun for everybody in the building… a solid, constantly accelerating snowball of a comedy!” – Phoenix News Times
A “three-ring circus of chaos involving celebrity worship, backstage shenanigans and mistaken identities.” – Desert News
Lend Me A Tenor is rated PG-13. The hysterical stage play comedy is set in Cleveland, Ohio in September 1934. Saunders, (Rob Andresen) is the blow-hard general manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company and is primed to welcome world-famous Tito Morelli, Il Stupendo (David Scherer), the greatest tenor of his generation (and notorious ladies’ man) to appear for one night only as Otello. This is the biggest event in the Opera Company’s history, and Julia (René Porter-Stewart), the head of the Opera Guild expects the show to be top-notch sell-out and she will take the credit. Even the Bellhop (Dennes Barrett) keeps trying to get an autograph and a photo of the famous star, but always at the wrong moment. Saunders’ daughter, Maggie (Jessica Michak) is overly romantically attracted to the famous opera singer, but so is Diana (Julia Sherman), the Opera Company’s seductive soprano who is “flinging her way” to the top. Morelli finally arrives at the hotel suite, accompanied by his hot-tempered Italian wife, Maria (Tracy Candace Hunt) who is jealous because Tito flirts with other women. Morelli arrives late and, through a hilarious series of mishaps, is given a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his long-suffering assistant Max (Casey Seger) believe he’s dead. In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders persuades Max to get into Morelli’s Otello costume and fool the audience into thinking he’s Il Stupendo. Max succeeds admirably, but Morelli comes to and gets into his other costume ready to perform. For the rest of the play, Max and Tito – identical in their Othello costumes—are mistaken for each other especially by Maggie and Diana, who are star-struck and running around in lingerie, each thinking she is finally alone with Il Stupendo . Join us to see how this mayhem of mistaken identity ends.
Admission is $15 for adults, $10 HHOH members, and $5 for students 17 and younger. Free to ages 6 and younger. Doors open two hours prior to showtime.
Seating is open/first-come, first served. Wine, beer, and soda is available for purchase.
To purchase tickets, stop in to the Homestake Opera House office in the back of the building at 308 Julius Street, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., or call the box office at 605-584-2067 or purchase online at HomestakeOperaHouse.org.
Support for this program is provided in part by annual members, the City of Lead, the Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation, and the South Dakota Arts Council with funds from the State of South Dakota through the Department of Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Proceeds from the event support ongoing music programming, restoration projects, and operations at the Historic Homestake Opera House.
Free parking is located behind the building, on Main Street, and lot parking within four blocks or less from the theater. The building is wheelchair accessible and assistive listening devices are also available. The HHOH is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to returning the building to productive use for the enrichment of the community and to provide arts and culture and educational opportunities for generations to come. The HHOH is a equal opportunity provider and employer.
