‘Lend Me a Tenor’ looks like a winner

Stanley Tucci directs a nifty revival of a laugh machine

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BROADWAY REVIEW

People born when "Lend Me a Tenor" premiered on Broadway just turned 21, so it's time for a new generation to laugh themselves silly over Ken Ludwig's frisky hotel room comedy.

The original production was a major hit and a similar success looks likely for this brightly performed and highly enjoyable Broadway revival which opened Sunday at the Music Box Theatre.

Set in 1934 and crafted in the style of yesteryear farces, Ludwig's story involves a one-night-only visit to Cleveland by Tito Merelli (Anthony LaPaglia), a famed Italian singer slated to perform the title role in "Otello" with a local opera company. But too much wine and an accidental overdose of sleeping pills render Tito so unconscious that the opera impresario Saunders (Tony Shalhoub) believes he's dead.

Unwilling to cancel the show, Saunders induces his loyal go-fer Max (Justin Bartha), an aspiring singer, to assume Otello's black-face makeup and pumpkin pants costume.

After Tito recovers in time to don his own Otello drag, the play's second act offers plenty of comical confusion as the opera star's love-struck female fans chase after both him and the interchangeable Max. Tito's tempestuous I-ma-gonna-keel-him wife Maria (Jan Maxwell) and a vocalizing bellboy (Jay Klaitz) are other characters madly whirling around the hotel suite.

A naughty but nice trifle (with nary an F-bomb to assault tender ears), the play is a wind-up toy sure to amuse viewers simply out for laughs. Making his debut as a Broadway director, Stanley Tucci keeps the tempo brisk, the dialogue crisp and the actors fast on their toes.

Freed from his "Monk" TV series, Shalhoub portrays the cigar-chomping Saunders with rolling eyes and a desperate air. Perfectly earnest as bespectacled Max, Bartha easily gets his swagger on when he gets into Tito's costume. LaPaglia appears every expansive inch the florid yet friendly opera star while the ever-divine Maxwell swerves on a dime from virago to lovebird. All but staggering under the weight of her silver lame gown as a society dame, Brooke Adams recalls Margaret Dumont at her nicest.

Everyone is dressed prettily in 1930s fashions by Martin Pakledinaz. Festooning the hotel suite with elaborate plaster detailing, designer John Lee Beatty makes certain all of the doors slam with a satisfying bang.

"Lend Me a Tenor" continues an open-end run at the Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St., New York. Call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.lendmeatenoronbroadway.com.