If you didn’t happen to catch Calvert Hall’s latest Fall theater production of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me A Tenor, I can assure you that sitting down and experiencing the accumulation of comedic talent gathered for this year’s smaller scale show was greatly engrossing.
If you didn’t happen to catch Calvert Hall’s latest Fall theater production of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me A Tenor, I can assure you that sitting down and experiencing the accumulation of comedic talent gathered for this year’s smaller scale show was greatly engrossing. Though I was never aware of the story of Lend Me A Tenor, I am always overjoyed to be educated on new and exciting plays presented at our school. This year’s theatrical classic surrounds the few crazed days of the reserved and mild-mannered Max, played by Michael Kosmas ‘20, a Junior in his promising first leading role, his haughty theatrical administrator Mr. Saunders, played by the always entertaining Jonah Wolf ‘19, and the world-famous Italian opera tenor, Tito Merelli, played by another Calvert Hall Theater favorite John Moses ‘19. Max and Mr. Saunders must maintain a happy audience with their own production of Shakespeare’s Othello, but when Tito seemingly winds up dead, Max must swallow his fear of performing and step up to take on the persona of the recently deceased tenor. Antics ensue when there is a discovery that Max isn’t the only person dressed in an Othello costume, paired with juggling the plucky love interests, and a fanboy bellhop always on the cusp of exposing the secret.
Kosmas was surely the highlight of the night, I was sold on his awkward and endearing character and I genuinely empathized for his character, Max, when he reaches a point-of-no-return situation. If Michael is going to hold anymore leading roles, he could certainly impress future audiences with a shining performance. Of course, the actors aren’t the only aspect that created a fantastic comedy, the people behind the scenes always play an as important role in creating the entertaining experience. The set constructors should be proud for erecting such a practical setting for which the actors could interact with. There were scenes when the lighting had to shift to focus on only one room or one character to achieve an emotion being portrayed, and they did a marvelous job at that. But where would anyone be without the guidance of directors and production managers? Without their influence, the Calvert Hall Theater could never produce such entertaining masterpieces time after time. With this Spring’s Production of Newsies, I am so eager to be amused by whatever the production team dreams up.