Auditions for "Lend Me a Tenor" at Lincoln Community Playhouse

Lincoln Community Playhouse will hold auditions for LEND ME A TENOR on September 12 and 13, 2011 beginning at 7:00 pm at the Playhouse. Those interested in auditions should arrive at 7:00 pm, no appointments need to be made. Auditions will consist of readings from the script (those auditioning for Max, Tito and/or Bellhop should bring 16 bars of a prepared song). Rehearsals are from 7-10 Mon-Friday and begin September 19. Performances are October 28-30 and November 2-6 with possible holdover dates of November 11-13.

Roles are available for 4 women and 4 men:

Character Breakdown

• Max: (20's to mid 30's) Assistant to Saunders - An aspiring singer, his worst enemy is his own lack of self-confidence. He spends his time as a doormat to his future father-in-law and trying to convince Maggie that he is marriage material. (Singing Ability a Plus!)
• Maggie: (20's to 30's) Max's Girlfriend - pretty, quirky; a young woman who doesn’t want to settle for the seemingly mundane life she has with Max. She longs for an adventurous fling, one which will allow her to "hear bells."
• Saunders: (mid 50's) Maggie's father and the general Manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company - authoritarian; an uptight man with a short fuse, most of which he takes out on Max.
• Tito: (30's to 40's) A World Famous Tenor known also to his fans as Il Stupendo - imposing; a womanizing Italian who loves Maria, but finds difficulty resisting the advances of the opposite sex, who seem to advance frequently and with considerable momentum. (Singing Ability a Plus!)
• Maria: (30's) Tito’s wife - Sophia Loren-type: busty, proud, and excitable; a passionate and temperamental Italian woman who is growing weary of her husband’s wandering eye (and body) for the opposite sex.
• Bellhop: (age open) A bellhop - a highly energetic fan of Tito’s, who uses his occupation to get close to the international star. (Singing Ability a Plus!)
• Diana: (mid 30's) a soprano with the Cleveland Grand Opera Company - beautiful, sexy; a member of the opera company who has been "flinging her way through the whole cast." Playing Desdemona opposite Tito, she thinks that he might be her ticket out of Cleveland into the big time.
• Julia: (60's) Chairman of the Opera Guild - over the hill, ex-diva, for whom the Cleveland Grand Opera Company is the center of her small, pretentious world.

NOTE: Max, Tito, and the Bellhop engage in operatic singing on a couple of occasions within the play. Casting will emphasize acting ability.

LEND ME A TENOR, is set on a night in September of 1934 - the biggest in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company. On this occasion, world famous tenor Tito Morelli is to perform Otello , his greatest role, at the gala season opener. Saunders, the harried General Manager, hopes this will put Cleveland on the cultural map. Morelli is nowhere to be found; when he finally arrives drunk, it is too late for any rehearsal. Through a hilarious series of mishaps, 'Il Stupendo' is given a double dose of tranquilizers which mix with the booze he has consumed and he passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant Max believe he is dead. What to do? Saunders coaxes Max into Morelli's costume, intending to fool the audience with this fake 'Il Stupendo.' Nervous amateur Max succeeds admirably, but Morelli revives and dresses for his second act. With two Otellos now in costume and two women, each thinking she is with 'Il Stupendo', the farce spins out of control onstage and off.

Morrie Enders will direct with Aaron Wong as scenic designer, Karen Statham as costume designer, Kathleen Lorenzen as lighting designer, Michelle Lee Robison as stage manager, Craig Yeager as sound designer, Linda Dabbs as charge artist and Nick Turner as technical director.