Otello mustn't burst
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| Title: | Otello mustn't burst |
| Original title: | Lend me a tenor |
| Genus: | comedy |
| Original language: | English |
| Author: | Ken Ludwig |
| Literary source: | Otello |
| Premiere: | March 6, 1986 |
| Place of premiere: | West End Theater in London |
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Otello mustn't burst ( English : Lend Me a Tenor ) is a comedy by Ken Ludwig . The play premiered on March 6, 1986 at the West End Theater in London . It received nine Tony Award nominations and won Best Actor ( Philip Bosco ) and Best Director ( Jerry Zaks ) on Broadway in 1989 . The play has been translated into 16 languages and performed in 25 countries. In 2010 it came on stage as the musical Lend Me A Tenor with music by Brad Carroll and text by Peter Sham. In 2015, the sequel The Secret of the Three Tenors ( A Comedy of Tenors ), also written by Ken Ludwig, premiered in Cleveland.
action
The play is set in a hotel suite in Cleveland , Ohio in 1934.
1st act
Henry Saunders , director of the Cleveland Grand Opera, anxiously awaits the arrival of Tito Merelli, the world-famous Italian opera tenor. Merelli comes to Cleveland to sing the title role in Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello . That would be the greatest event in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera. Saunders urges his assistant Max to make sure that Merelli comes straight from his suite to the rehearsal and on time for the performance, as Merelli is considered unreliable. Maggie , the daughter of Saunders and part-time friend of Max, is a fan of Tito Merelli and hopes to see him as she adores him ardently.
Tito arrives at the hotel accompanied by his hot-blooded wife Maria . Maria is jealous because Tito is flirting with other women. Maggie tries at least to get Tito's autograph. Since her father forbade her to do so, when she hears voices, she hides in the closet where Maria discovers her. Maria writes a farewell letter to her husband and leaves the hotel.
In the living room, Max gives Tito a sedative to calm himself down before the performance, but does not know that Tito has already taken a double dose of sedative. Max is an aspiring opera singer, but he cannot sing in front of an audience. Tito gives Max a singing lesson, does relaxation exercises with him and shows him how to sing with confidence. Tito and Max sing a duet from Verdi's Don Carlos . Tito lies down briefly in the bedroom.
Before the performance Max wants to wake Tito, but the sedatives do not succeed. Because of Maria's farewell letter, which he takes to be Tito's, Max believes in suicide. Saunders panics over this news - how should he refund the entrance fees? “Why did he have to kill himself before the performance. He could have waited until tomorrow! "
Saunders has a plan: Nobody knows Tito is dead. In the costume and with the make-up of the Moor, nobody will notice anything when Max plays the role. Tito's death will only be announced tomorrow. Saunders and Max leave the stage and Tito wakes up.
- Scenes with Merelli, Max and Maggie from performances by the Kolping theater group Kärlich in 2012
Sleeping potion for Tito Merelli
Singing lesson with the master
Who is the right Otello?
Max sings for his Maggie
2nd act
Saunders and Max enter the hotel suite. The Otello performance was a great success. Nobody suspected that Max and not Tito was singing. But a call from the police ended the cheering mood. A madman tried to come to the opera disguised as Otello during the performance. He hit a police officer who was trying to stop him and escaped.
Saunders tells Max to quickly take off his costume and make-up while he goes down to speak to the police. When Max can't find Tito in the bedroom, he leaves the suite still in costume to warn Saunders.
Tito Merelli comes into the hotel suite, also disguised as Otello. Except himself and on the run from the police, because he is the "madman". He is even more astonished when Diana congratulates him on the grandiose performance and falls into his arms in the bedroom. In the meantime, Max comes into the living room, where he is hugged by Maggie, who thinks he is Tito.
After a turbulent mix-up, Maria comes back to the hotel. Diana is quickly hidden in the bathroom. Tito hugs his wife and leaves the hotel. Maggie realizes that her Tito is really Max. They kiss and the curtain falls.
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- ↑ The title of the comedy is occasionally written as “Othello” (with an h). But since the opera is the subject of the piece, the spelling without an h is correct.