‘Lend Me a Tenor’

Ringgold Playhouse production hits all the right comedic notes

There will be misunderstandings and mishaps aplenty when The Ringgold Playhouse presents “Lend Me a Tenor” in seven performances beginning tonight, July 20, in the Ringgold Depot.

Fresh off the heels of a production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Rabbit Hole,” TRP is switching gears to Ken Ludwig’s classic comedy.

“It’s a very funny show with a fabulous cast,” says director Kimberly Tyner Jones.

“Tenor” is a door-slamming, dress-dropping farce with mistaken identities, mischievous misunderstandings and compromising positions.

Saunders, general manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is primed to welcome the world-famous Tito Merelli, aka II Stupendo, the greatest tenor of his generation, to appear for one night only as “Otello.”

The star arrives late, and through a hilarious s eri es of mishaps, is given a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. His pulse is so low t hat Saunders and his assistant, Max, believe he’s dead.

In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders persuades Max to get into Merelli’s costume and fool the audience into thinking he’s II Stupendo. Max succeeds admirably, but Merelli comes to and gets into his other costume ready to perform. Now two Otellos are running around in costume and two women are running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with II Stupendo.

“For the audience, it’s a nonstop ride of mistaken identity and double entendre leading to rash assumptions that have outrageous results,” Tyner Jones says.

Local community theater veteran Ed Huckabee is cast in the title role of tenor Tito Merelli. He’s joined by cast members Justin Young, Ayana Winchester, Dan Lyons, Christine Keefe, Kitty Reel, Bobby Daniels and Lindsey Knox.

Tickets may be purchased in person at Ringgold City Hall, by phone at 706-935-3061, or online at cityofringgoldga.gov.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS Justin Young, left, as Max, gets singing lessons from the world-famous Tito Merelli, played by Ed Huckabee.

Ayana Winchester as Maggie, Justin Young as Max and Lindsey Knox as Diana, from left, rehearse a scene from “Lend Me a Tenor.”