Broadway actors make local appearance

Two Broadway actors work with the Residents Theater Company at Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center.

WEST CHESTER >> Broadway actors don’t just perform in New York.

Two Broadway actors and a producer navigated the Jersey Turnpike to work with the Residents Theater Company at Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center.

The Residents Theater Company presents “Lend Me a Tenor,” featuring Broadway actors Bart Shatto and Laurie Wells, plus producer Kristin McLaughlin Mitchell. The show opened Friday, Dec. 14, and runs through Dec. 30.

Shatto stars as Tito Mirrelli. He has five Broadway credits to his name, including for, “Les Miserables,” “Civil War,” “Hands on a Hard Body,” “Dracula, the Musical” and “War Paint,” with Patti LuPone. He recently performed in “Murphy Brown” and “Chicago Med” on the small screen.

Laurie Wells acted on Broadway in “MAMMA MIA!” and plays Maria.

McLaughlin Mitchell is directing the West Chester version of “Lend Me a Tenor” after she joined forces with Stanley Tucci to direct the Broadway revival in 2010, which earned three Tony nominations.

Although there is a bit of opera singing, “Lend Me a Tenor” is a play, not a musical. Shatto said it is a farce. “It’s a bonkers comedy with lots of slamming doors, mistaken identities and innuendos,” Shatto said. “The audience will go out with a smile on their faces.”

The play takes place in a hotel suite in Cleveland. The American debut and ar-

rival of the greatest opera singer in the world (Shatto, as Tito Mirrelli) is highly anticipated.

“The hijinks occur upon his arrival,” Shatto said.

Shatto talked about hearing the audience laugh and earning applause.

“Laughter is the most amazing gift,” he said. “I love to make people laugh, especially during this holiday season.”

Shatto said actors perform for the applause.

“Everybody who is an actor is seeking validation,” he said.

Shatto played an Altoona Trump supporter for the new “Murphy Brown” TV show.

So what’s main main difference between filming for TV and performing in front of a live audience?

“There is nothing like immediate response — it’s priceless,” he said. “There is not anything like the immediacy of theater — nothing can replace it.”

And there are no second takes at Uptown! or on Broadway.

“Anything can go wrong,”Shatto said, with a grin. “People drop lines, people drop props and drop costume pieces.

“There is something exciting about an audience experiencing it for the first time.”

The names of the cast and characters are as follows:

• Bart Shatto as Tito Morelli, the Tenor

• Laurie Wells as Maria, Tito’s wife

• Michael Yeshion as Henry Saunders, the Cleveland Grand Opera’s general manager

• Woody White as Max, Saunders’ assistant

• Hillary Wilson as Maggie Saunders, Henry’s daughter, and Max’s girlfriend

• Katie Horner as Diana, the opera’s ingénue soprano

• Trina Tjersland as Julia, Chairwoman of the Cleveland Opera Guild

• Angel Sigala as the Bellhop

The show runs through Dec. 30.

Tickets are $25 - $52 and are available at www.RTCwc.org or by calling the box office at (610) 356-2787.

SUBMITTED PHOTO/CLINTONBPHOTOGRAPHY Woody White, left, and Bart Shatto in “Lend Me a Tenor” at Uptown!

SUBMITTED PHOTO/CLINTONBPHOTOGRAPHY Woody White, Laurie Wells and Michael Yeshion perform in “Lend Me a Tenor” at Uptown!

SUBMITTED PHOTO/CLINTONBPHOTOGRAPHY Woody White, left, and Bart Shatto thrill the audience in “Lend Me a Tenor,” at the Uptown!

SUBMITTED PHOTO/CLINTONBPHOTOGRAPHY Staying in love is sometimes harder than falling in love. Hillary Wilson and Woody White during “Lend Me a Tenor,” at the Uptown!