Review |
There’s a hilarious show in downtown Roseville. If
you’re ready for a couple of hours of real stomach-crunching laughter,
go see Lend Me A Tenor, at the Roseville Theatre, running until April
25th. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door for a barrel of
entertainment. This is not a musical. It’s about musical performance,
and there are some Pavarotti-like moments, but Ken Ludwig’s script is a
straight-forward, poke-in-the-side laugh at amateur ambition,
out-of-control passion, and romantic imagination. All the actors are
larger than life and a few large in life. They
are on cue, on their feet, and on each other a lot of the show. I was
exhausted from laughing by intermission, listening and watching them
beg, wheedle, fall down, accuse and threaten each other as they tried to
get what they wanted.
The second half was just as funny as the first. Hats
off first and foremost for director Jon Jackson. What a show he’s put
together. Ken Ludwig’s dialogue is very clever, but to bring it to
uproarious life takes a real pro and cooperative, trusting, talented
actors. Brava! to Michelle Raskey who plays the angry Italian wife. When
she storms into the room, the show starts. Her wild Italian tenor
husband, Tito, (Mike Mechanic) is the foil in the show, and he takes a
beating. I’ve never seen a man suffer the delicious abuse he does on the
couch and on the bed. Jake Romero, as the insistent, young Bellhop, who
wants his chance to audition for the Italian tenor, could have stepped
right out of Grand Budapest Hotel. Finally and with stand-up
admiration, Anthony Raddigan was exhaustingly funny at transforming
himself from insecure boyfriend of sex-kitten Janey Pintar to
stage-frightened tenor extraordinaire. That’s not to mention his
hilarious romps on the bed with the real tenor. Be warned, your cheeks
will be stuck in a smile for quite some time after seeing this show.
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