L.A. Beat

Hatrix Theatre is excited to make you laugh this week with Ken Ludwig’s “Lend Me A Tenor,” which runs at the Moose Hall, Oct. 15-18.
“ It’s a farce. It’s definitely a farce. There are no dead spots in it. It’s always funny,” said director Karolyn Harker.

 “I chose it because it made me laugh and I’m still laughing,” said Harker who also chose it because Ken Ludwig is a well known, popular playwright.

“ When I looked it up I found out it won some Tony Awards, so I ordered it,” she said adding she has been working with a nice mix of community theatre veterans like Marcie Stork, Sheila Matson and Jeff and Stephen Graham who work with several local theatre groups, Hatrix veterans Preston Scholz and Brian Quinn and talented newcomers Aimée McGurk who was in Shakespeare in the Park this summer and performs a lot at the University of Lethbridge plus Monique Prusky who returns to the stage after a seven year hiatus.

“ They are kind and dedicated and talented beyond belief. They have natural comedic timing,” Harker enthused.
“ They know how to create a good ensemble,” she continued.

 The story  explores the misadventures of  the staff of Cleveland Grand Opera Company in 1934 who are putting on a performance of the opera Otello starring world famous tenor, “Il Stupendo” Tito Merelli.

 When he overdoses on Phenobarbital after his wife leaves him and accidentally convinces everyone he has passed away, the uptight, pompous, scheming manager Saunders convinces “gopher, factotum and all purpose dogsbody” Max to pretend he is Tito and go on stage in his place.

The result is a cavalcade of misunderstandings involving Tito's passionate wife Maria, a star struck bellhop, a sultry Opera Guild chair Julia, the seductive soprano Diana and Maggie, the young, innocent daughter of Saunders plus plenty of mistaken identities,  slamming doors and pretty women falling in love with Il Stupendo and his “twin.”

Monique Prusky is excited to be part of the performance as Maggie, the daughter of  manager Saunders.
“Hatrix did such a good job of Spamalot, that I wanted to be part of the party,” Prusky said, who took a year of in arts education before earning her accountant degree at at the University of Lethbridge.
“It’s been about seven years since I was on stage,” she said.

 She is enjoying her character.
“She very young, very sweet and very naïve girlfriend of the dogsbody Max and she’s looking for a fling,”she said.
“It’s so neat to be back on stage,” she said adding she is enjoying working with the cast.
“ The biggest challenge is  having to kiss someone on stage, but we worked that out tonight,” she said.
 Hatrix veteran Preston Scholz has been in Hatrix productions almost from the beginning.
“I was in the Nerd a few years ago,” he said noting he is enjoying playing Max, the dogsbody, and gopher and substitute for famous tenor Tito Merelli.
“ Max begins as a hesitant, obedient nerd but by the end he turns into a confident, boisterous star,” Scholz said of his character Max.

 

“The play is very well written. So as soon as I read it I instantly knew I wanted to be involved,” he said.

“ It’s a comedy of mistaken identities and  covering up of a potential death,” he said adding he is enjoying working with the new cast members as well as actors he has worked with before.
“We’ve been laughing a lot. We’ve been rehearsing it for three months and  I still laugh at it. I love this play. It’s so much fun,” he said.

“I look forward to every rehearsal. We still laugh at jokes we’ve seen 50 times,” Harker echoed adding she hopes people will come and enjoy the show.
“ I hope  they will feel come away feeling happy and with a new appreciation of the theatre as a source of relaxation and relief,” she said.

“The Cleveland Symphony Orchestra is producing the opera Otello in 1934 with Tito Merrelli in 1934 who is probably based on the tenor Caruso because he's called Il Stupendo. He's incapacitated and so a substitute is required. So what happens is an explosion of comic craziness. There's people going in and out of six doors, police sirens and mistaken identities,” she said.

 “ The curtain call itself is worth the $15  alone. So don’t miss it,” she said.
 Tickets for the show are available at CASA for $15. Doors open at $15, the show begins at 8 p.m Oct. 15-18.