A Comedy of Tenors
By Ken Ludwig
Directed by Anita Rowland
nitalouise@aol.com
PLOT SYNOPSIS
One hotel suite, four tenors, two wives, three girlfriends, and a soccer stadium filled with screaming fans. What could possibly go wrong? It’s 1930s Paris and the stage is set for the concert of the century—as long as producer Henry Saunders can keep the amorous Italian superstar and his hot-blooded wife from causing runaway chaos. An uproarious ride, full of mistaken identities, bedroom hijinks, and madcap delight. Though a sequel to the comedy, Lend Me a Tenor, this farce totally stands on its own.
AUDITIONS DATES: Sunday, August 18 (2:00PM - 4:00PM), and Monday, August 19, 2024, from 7:30PM to 9:30PM. Callback Date: TBA, only if needed.
AUDITION LOCATION: The Village Playbox, located at The First Presbyterian Church of Haddon Heights on Green Street between 7th and 8th Avenues in Haddon Heights, NJ.
PERFORMANCE DATES: (8) at the First Presbyterian Church of Haddon Heights, November 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, and 16, 2024. Evening curtain is 8:00 p.m.; Sunday matinee at 3:00 p.m. PARTICIPATION IN ALL PERFORMANCES IS MANDATORY.
REHEARSALS: Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday evening, 7:00 - 9:00 pm. (6:30 on Sundays)
TECH WEEK: October 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31, 2024. ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY.
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS: You will be asked to do cold readings from the script. To prepare for your audition, you should consider reading a plot summary of the show (check Wikipedia) and familiarizing yourself with the characters. On the audition form, you can specify a particular role, but you will most likely be reading for multiple characters in various scenes. Clear diction, strong projection, stage presence, and characterization are the keys to a successful audition. Please be advised that this show requires physical comedy of all characters.
SINGING REQUIREMENTS: Tito, Max, and Carlo sing in Italian The Brindisi (The Drinking Song) from the opera La Traviata. On You Tube search “The Three Tenors in Concert 1994: Brindisii from La Traviata” if you would like to hear it. Keep in mind these men are three of the greatest tenors of all time.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Ages listed are for the characters, not necessarily the actors.
Saunders - Male. 60+, a show business producer. Saunders is a hard-working, demanding, high-strung self-made man, who has had to fight his way to get to the top. This concert is his biggest production to date and if it fails, he stands to lose not all his money but with it, his reputation, forever. He yells a lot.
Max - Male. 50s, Saunders’ assistant for many years. Max is smart, level-headed, considerate, attentive, and quick with a joke but talented and persistent with his own aims. A fine singer with the potential for an international career, he is trying to shake off the yoke of being an assistant and step into his destiny as an opera singer. He is married to Saunders’ daughter Maggie, who is pregnant with their first child. Tenor-Baritone.
Maria - Female. 50+, Tito’s stunning wife. Maria looks like she is straight out of an Italian fashion magazine. She is larger than life, in her personality, in her physique, and in her explosive temper. Fiercely loyal and spontaneous, she is also acutely sensitive to slights (especially from Tito) and stubborn as a mule. She jumps to conclusions quickly. Her relationship with Tito swings between romance and savage arguments. Behind it all, she harbors the romantic heart of an Italian teenage girl at the movie theatre. Must have a strong Italian accent.
Tito - Male. 60+, one of Italy’s most famous opera singers. Regal in appearance, fiery in nature, Tito has a bit of a diva complex and is insanely jealous. He is totally dependent on his wife Maria, whom he looks upon alternately as the love of his life, his mother, his biggest fan, his maid, etc.. Must have a strong Italian accent and sing well. Tenor-Baritone.
The same actor plays:
Beppo—An Italian hotel bellhop who is joyous, full of life, and down to earth. He is an unpolished jewel of a tenor. Beppo has a fling with Racón, the Russian soprano.
Mimi - Female. 20s to early 30s, the daughter of Tito and Maria, who still think of her as their little girl. Educated in the U.S., she has an American accent. Maria is a romantic, wide-eyed modern girl who has found the love of her life and hopes to make it in show business as an actress. She is in a relationship with Carlo Nucci, whom she adores.
Carlo - Male. Late 20s to early 30s, a dashing Italian-American singer from Brooklyn. He speaks English very well with no detectable Italian accent. Carlo is a famous young tenor who is in love with Mimi but is also viewed as a threat to her father’s career. Tito is in awe of Carlo. Strong tenor.
Tatiana Racón - Female. 40-50+, a famous Russian opera singer. A former lover to Tito, she is a very passionate woman with a strong Russian accent.