Press Release: A Comedy of Tenors

A Fun, Frenzied, Farce with a little Traviata on the side

It’s 1930s Paris, and the stage is set for the concert of the century—as long as producer Henry Saunders can keep an amorous Italian superstar and his hot-blooded wife from causing runaway chaos. A Comedy of Tenors is an uproarious comedy filled with slamming doors, unbridled passion, and madcap hilarity on an operatic scale!

Directed by Kayt Roth, Metro Theatre is delighted to present our Season 57 opener A Comedy of Tenors, written by comic genius Ken Ludwig, on stage October 4 – 19.

A Comedy of Tenors is about love in many forms, and how you can fight with someone and still care for them despite their best efforts to drive you crazy.

Tito who does not like change, is having a mid-life crisis.  Max is a singer trying to move beyond his assistant roots, and he and his  wife Maggie are having a baby.  The famous Russian soprano Tatiana Racón, is in Paris on the hunt for her former beau, while Tito and Maria’s daughter, Mimi, is also in town with her own lover, trying to earn a role in a movie.  Factor in an up-and-coming star who threatens to unseat everybody else, and everything that possibly can go wrong does.

Director Kayt Roth: “Madcap comedy is something that we don’t see a lot of in the theatre these days. Mistaken identities, fast-paced jokes, impossible deadlines and sultry situations can make a person laugh like no other –  A Comedy of Tenors is comedy in its purest form.”

Tickets are $28 Adult or $25 Senior/Student with a special 2 tickets for $40 every Thursday.

Tickets can be reserved by leaving a Box Office message at 604 266 7191

Content advisory: “A Comedy of Tenors” contains strong language and sexual references

Metro Theatre is a non-profit theatre company, dedicated to promoting and developing theatre arts.  This is our 518th show.

Cast and Production Team

CAST

Henry Saunders……………………………Bill McNaughton
Max……………………………………………..…….Vicente Sandoval
Maria Merelli………………………….……..Cindy Hirschberg-Schon
Tito Merelli/Beppo…………………………Carlos Vela-Martinez
Mimi Merelli…………………………….…..….Katie Chapman
Carlo Nucci…………………………………….Mostafa Shaker
Tatiana Racón……………………………….Tracy Labrosse
Jacqueline, Announcer………………Emmanuelle Corne Bertrand

PRODUCTION TEAM

Director………………………………………….….Kayt Roth
Production Manager………..…..………Heather Stewart
Stage Manager…………………………………Sophie Gardner
Asst Stg Mgr……………………………..………Lavina Schafer
Set Designer………………………………………Kathleen Hilton
Costume Designer……………………………Chrysta Webster
Costume Designer……………………………Chloe Knowles
Lighting Designer…………………………….Les Erskine
Sound Designer……………..…………………Kayt Roth
Properties……………………………..……………Lavina Schafer
Board Operator…………………..……………Leslie Thompson
General Manager………………….………….Les Erskine
Head Carpenter………………………………….Robin Richardson
Scenic Painting……………………..……….…..Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Set Decoration…………………………………..Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Photographer……………………………………Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Wardrobe Manager..………………………..Sean Ullmann
Hair & Make-up……………..……………………Abbey McLane

The Story

It’s 1936, and Henry Saunders is putting on the greatest concert that Paris has ever seen – The Three Tenors. But this is not Pavarotti, Domingo and the Other Guy; this is Tito Merelli, Max, and Jussi Bjorling, the world’s foremost tenors. There are problems right from the start. Tito is late, and three hours before the concert, the room is not ready for him when Henry enters to find underwear all over the floor and an offensive buffet. He calls down to get Max, his former assistant and now tenor in the concert, to come up and ready the room, taking him away from rehearsal. As Max checks the rooms, Henry complains about how irresponsible Tito was the last time he was hired for a concert, having slept through it due to copious drinking. Max finds out that the Merellis’ plane has landed and heads back to rehearsal, leaving Henry to greet the Merellis with a fake smile and a brassiere in his hand.

Tito is unhappy. Everywhere he goes, he hears Carlo Nucci. This, coupled with the revelation of his voice cracking on the high C in a recent performance, and he is in the pits of despair. Maria tries to encourage him, to remind him that he’s the world’s biggest opera star, but nothing will quell his insecurity. She also reminds him that he is forgetful, and that it is her birthday. But for once, Tito is ahead of her, and produces a beautiful and expensive scarf as a gift. Feeling romantic, Tito suggests they head to the bedroom, but when she hesitates, they fall into their default mode – fighting. They argue about their daughter, who Tito thinks is too young to get married, but Maria points out that she is twenty-five and has urges. Tito is aghast, not only about his daughter, but at Maria’s statement that women have more urges than he thinks. He then throws a fit, declares that he will kill any man that goes near his daughter, and grabs the blanket off the couch to go into the bedroom and take a nap, Maria at his heels.

Under the blanket we discover Mimi Merelli and her young lover, who have been hiding under it on the couch the entire time. Their lack of clothes is a dead giveaway, and now, they are in a panic as Mimi has an audition in thirty minutes. Wrapped in another blanket, Mimi and the young man are discovered by Maria, who promises to help find the missing clothes until Tito tries to come into the room. She holds him back, letting Mimi and her lover run to the balcony, where he tries to escape and spins her out of her blanket and over the balcony railing. The young man then hides behind the door that Tito flings open, suspicious that something is going on. Maria convinces him to go back into the bedroom and lie down, then gives her new scarf to Mimi’s boyfriend to soothe his head. She helps him get dressed while, unbeknownst to them, Tito watches from the doorway, from his perspective finding them in a compromising position. He stumbles back into the bedroom, convinced that his wife is having an affair.

Henry enters in a rage, as Jussi Bjorling, the third tenor, has quit to go home to Sweden after his mother’s death. He sends his assistant hunting for a replacement, finding one almost immediately, and while he goes to meet with him, Max reconnects with Tito. Tito tells him about what he’s just seen, but reveals that he once had an affair before he was married, to the famous soprano Tatiana Racón, who also is in Paris to perform. Then a triumphant Henry returns, having secured the new third tenor for the concert – Carlo Nucci – rising star, Mimi’s boyfriend, and Tito’s new rival. Tito flies into a rage, and tries to strangle his rival.

Max tries to calm Tito down, and tells him that what he saw had to have been a dream. Once he accepts this, Tito apologizes to Carlo, who fawns over him. Max sees an opportunity, and together, the three of them rehearse the Libiamo from La Traviata. Everything is fine until Tito sees Carlo mop his brow with Maria’s scarf, and so he tries to kill Carlo with a cheese knife. A chase ensues, sending everyone out the door. Maria and Tito return, where he confronts her about her alleged infidelity, but she doesn’t know what he’s talking about, instead gushing about her daughter’s boyfriend. Tito, still convinced she is cheating, demands a divorce, and she counters that they will get two divorces, as she wants one too. Tito then quits the concert, followed by Carlo, leaving Henry with only Max to carry the entire show. Until they hear a heavenly voice out in the hallway – the bellhop, Beppo, who is a dead ringer for Tito.

Striking on an idea, Henry convinces Beppo to take Tito’s place in the concert. Beppo, a former gondolier who loves everything about life, is excited to have his big chance at opera, since he had to give up his dream to support his family. Max leaves him to get dressed after receiving a call from his wife, who is having contractions. Mimi then enters and reveals that she’s won the part in Marie Antoinette, playing a peasant girl who begs the queen for food. Carlo discovers her there in costume, and tells her about meeting her father. As they speak Beppo enters, now shaved and looking like Tito, and she pleads her case for Carlo to him. Seeing this kind side of ‘Tito’, Carlo then rejoins the concert.

While making himself a snack, Maria comes in and reminds ‘Tito’ of the grand love they’ve shared, and asks him if he thinks their marriage is worth saving, before kissing him senseless and retreating to the bedroom. As Beppo contemplates this development, he is surprised to find the great Racón on the hunt, also kissing him senseless as she then tells him that she has been thinking of him before retreating to the hotel suite’s other bedroom. Faced with a dilemma, Beppo now must decide what to do, but before he does, Henry storms in, demanding to know why he’s not dressed. Beppo then makes his decision.

Mimi gets some news when Tito returns, telling her about him divorcing her mother, and that the interloper is Carlo Nucci. She confronts Carlo, only to discover her father now also in a compromising position. As the minutes to the concert tick down, people are in various states of undress, and confusion reigns supreme. Will the show go on? Will the truth come out? Come see the show to find out!

Directors Talk

Before discovering musical theatre, all the music director Kayt Roth knew revolved around love, heartbreak, and pickup trucks. But it was as a teenager that she discovered that song is also an incredible storytelling medium. And to this day, she still swings her hips when she hears Patricia the Stripper.

Kayt Roth and the cast of A COMEDY OF TENORS JOINED THE AUDIENCE .

The informal chat cover:

• The challenges of crafting a sequel
• Figuring out timing and needs for quick changes for actor playing dual characters.
• Some production items audiences don’t necessarily think about (stunts, what an ASM does, sourcing specialty props)