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May the
farce be with you: “A Comedy of Tenors” at Paper Mill
Playhouse
Through Feb 26 at Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn,
New Jersey.
Wed at 7:30PM; Thurs 1:30 & 7:30; Fri at 8PM; Sat 1:30 & 8;
Sun 1:30 & 7. Tickets: 973-376-4343 or at www.papermill.org
Reviewed by Philip Dorian February 2017
Great art it’s not, but if you’re looking for a recipe
for farce, all the ingredients can be found in “A Comedy of
Tenors,” Ken Ludwig’s sequel to his enormously successful
“Lend Me a Tenor.” Slamming doors to resounding laughter
this month at Paper Mill Playhouse, this second coming of operatic
tenor Tito Merelli is, for my money – and, I suggest, yours
– funnier than the first. (I’m not a fan of the first
play’s blackface gimmick, but that’s another matter.)
Set in a 1930s Paris hotel suite with a facetiously drawn Eiffel Tower
seen out the window, harried impresario Henry Saunders is producing
an operatic concert in a soccer stadium. With an ensemble of four
tenors, one fiery wife, a canoodling young couple and a predatory
ex-lover all entangled in a roundelay of misunderstood relationships,
the play defies one’s ability (okay, mine) to summarize it coherently.
Playwright Ludwig’s ability, however, to create such a tangle
and then untangle it with dexterity, is unquestioned.
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| From left, John Treacy Egan, Michael Kostroff
and David Josefsberg |
One example: Tito covertly observes his wife in what appears to be
a compromising situation with a younger man. While the episode is
harmless, the scene is written, staged and acted in a way that invites
misunderstanding. It’s not only hilarious by itself, it figures
into equally amusing developments down the road.
Along with slam-able doors (there are five here), most farce recipes
call for quick costume changes (innumerable), physical action (plenty)
and pinpoint timing (impeccable). Side dishes include scantily-clad
folks in compromising situations (yup) and a first-act curtain that
presages an improbable second act, exemplified here by an outrageous
development that leads to high-style hi-jinks.
The cast and direction are nigh flawless. As Tito and his wife, John
Treacy Egan and Judy Blazer somehow manage to convey a warm bond even
as they rail at each other. Impresario Saunders is a latter-day Mr.
Bluster; Michael Kostroff plays him just so. Jill Paice and Ryan Silverman
are delightful as young lovers caught with their pants down (literally),
and David Josefsberg gets a workout as Max, the would-be voice of
sanity. Donna English is a vamp to reckon with. (“Oh, those
animal sounds,” she pants after an assignation. “That
was you,” she’s informed.)
Director Don Stephenson’s eye and ear for rapid-fire comical
imagery is unerring. There’s not a misstep in the staging or
an ill-timed line reading. Michael Schweikardt’s set is more
than serviceable (those doors!) and Mariah Hale’s costumes are
1930s-stylish. Alexander Kariotis is credited with musical direction
and arrangements; if all he did was transpose Alfredo and Violetta’s
“La Traviata” duet, “Libiamo…,” into
a three-tenor trio, this shout-out is well deserved.
What did I say at the top? That “A Comedy of Tenors” is
not great art? You know what? Maybe it is.
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