Tryon Little Theater director Carol Cox has announced auditions for TLT’s season opener, the outrageous farce, “Lend Me A Tenor” by Ken Ludwig. Auditions will be held at the workshop, 516 S. Trade Street, Sunday, July 24 at 3 p.m., and Monday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m. Performances will be at the workshop Sept. 15-18 and 22-25.

Theatre critics outdid themselves heaping superlatives on “Lend Me A Tenor:” “Uproarious! Hysterical!” “A furiously paced comedy with more than a touch of the Marx brothers,” “Screamingly funny!” “Hilariously over the top,” “One of the classic comedies of the 20th century.”  Winner of two Tony Awards in 1989 and four Drama Desk Awards, in 2016 it was nominated for a Tony for Best Revival of a play.

The premise: this night in September is the biggest in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company.  World famous tenor Tito Morelli is to perform “Othello,” his greatest role, at the gala season opener. Tito Morelli, Il Stupendo, is the greatest tenor of his generation. The star arrives late, and through a series of mishaps, is given a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. What to do? Well of course, dress Cleveland Opera assistant Max as Othello and see if you can fool an opera house full of giddy patrons expecting to see Il Stupdendo.

Are you still with me here? So we end up with two Othellos running around in costume after Morelli eventually wakes up, two women running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with Il Stupendo, Tito’s wife showing up, the bellhop wanting to sing, and the general manager of the opera and its dowager chairman of the Opera Guild all winding up in a decidedly over-packed frantic hotel suite!

Director Carol Cox has performed in numerous TLT productions as well as regionally over the years, and also co-directed last season’s delightful “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

Roles are for men and women ranging in age from 20s to 70s. Although “Tenor” is not a musical, Max, Tito and the bellhop burst into song on occasion. Those actors will be asked to sing a few bars informally at auditions.

Scripts are available for 24-hour checkout from The Book Shelf, 94 N. Trade Street, Tryon. For further information, call Carol Cox at 828-514-3936.

– article submitted

by Connie Clark