Lend
me a Tenor is running at the Gielgud Theatre, with an opening night of June
15th2011,
with previews from June 2nd2011.This musical transfers from the
out of town tryout in Plymouth which ran in September to October
2010. Tito Merelli has come to sing in the Grand Opera Company's production of
Otello, but Max (The assistant to the Opera's director) gets thrown on in the
place of Tito which leads to confusion for everyone in the show and create
chaos! On June
13thI was
invited to see a preview of the show, and I have to say I was impressed. I
was not expecting to like the musical as I'm not a fan of slapstick or musicals
set in that particular period of time but it was fantastic!
The musical stars
Matthew Kelly, and from watching the show I can see that this is stunt casting
to get in some extra people. His mannerisms as Henry Saunders were cringe
worthy the whole way through, his characterisation in the role is poor but he
was ok, he wasn't terrible.
The rest of the cast however were brilliant! Each character had their own personality and you can
tell the actors love this show! Joanna Riding and Michael Matus are perfect
as the Merellis, Joanna Riding especially plays a brilliant stubborn Italian
woman, with Michael Matus complementing her well as Tito.
Damian Humbley as
Max Garber was also genius casting and was a huge asset to this show. Cassidy
Janson was fantastic, she is a great performer! Her voice is powerful but not so
over powering that she overpowers the other actors, her solo ('Fling') was
perfectly sung! Sophie-Louise Dann, Gay Soper, Jane Quinn and Michelle Bishop were also great additions to the show,
but somewhat understated by the rest of the musical.
The musicals slapstick
elements were brilliant, something I was dreading at the start, but they were
not overly dragged out like some of the old stuff, but were fast and witty, I
was laughing my head off while watching it. The ensemble was great for all
the 5 minutes they were used, and the set brilliantly used in the show, loved
the way it moved around and made the different rooms. The show was not what I
expected in the slightest, but this was a good thing! Because if I got what I
expected, I would not be happy! Over all i think the
show was brilliantly cast and amazingly done by the creative team. The show
brings something to the west end that nothing has ever brought
before.
Rating:
****
Lend Me A Tenor
played at the Gielgud Theatre and closed on 6th August
