From Thursday April 9 to Sunday April 11, Jesuit Stage and Film performed their annual spring comedy Lend Me A Tenor after 3 months of rehearsals. The show clocked in at about two hours and had all the laughs, drama, and love affairs that audiences enjoyed.
Synopsis
The play, set in a hotel suite in Cleveland, follows one of the main characters, Saunders, who is having an opera show which stars global opera superstar named Tito Merelli. However, he is running late. Fortunately, he and his wife Maria arrive at Saunders’ assistant Max’s room. Max helps in assisting Tito and Maria along with the bellhops, but they only get in the way as they are really only there to meet Tito. When Saunders leaves, Max and Tito have a one-on-one moment as Maria is mad at Tito (Tito and Maria have a rocky relationship). Max drugs Tito’s drink without him knowing and Tito teaches Max how to sing. While Tito is teaching Max, Maria finds Max’s “fiancé” Maggie (who is also Saunders’ father) in the closet, as she has been hiding in there since the very start of the play. After Maria leaves, Tito has a temper tantrum and eventually falls asleep, ending Scene 1.
Scene 2 kicks off strong with Tito not waking up and Max and Saunders trying to keep it a secret while multiple guests visit the suite. However, Saunders comes up with an idea to make Max do the show and pretend he is Tito since, in the show, Tito is under a lot of makeup and costuming. After some convincing, Max agrees and is able to pass as Tito in the opera. Unfortunately, as the first act of the opera concludes while Max pretends to be Tito, the actual Tito wakes up, leading to there being two people in clown costumes running around Cleveland. When Tito gets found, he is marked as a lunatic who is cosplaying as Tito Merelli. In Act 2 of the opera, there is more romantic chaos, with Diana and Maggie having fun with Max and Tito since Maggie thinks that Max is Tito. However, once Tito leaves, they realize that they were played and Max runs to the bathroom where eventually every other character is waiting outside of, including Tito, who comes back for one final time. Max comes out, and after some confusion, all of the characters leave, and Max earns himself a prominent role in the world of opera.
Casts
As for every Jesuit play, there were two casts who performed two shows each. Below is who performed with cast one on the left and cast two on the right:
Max: Wills Blosser ’26 & Ian Skertchly ’27
Saunders: Max Galante ’27 & Trey Massey ’28
Tito Merelli: Gabriel Miller ’26 & Andre Cornejo ’26
Bellhop: Parker Whale ’26 & Pedro Rios ’28
Bellhop Assistant #1: Sophie Stewart ’27 (Ursuline) & Nicholas Bartel ’27
Bellhop Assistant #2: Raza Hassan ’28 & Cole Badrina ’28
Police Officer #1: Alex Ramsey ’26 & Graham Roberts ’28
Police Officer #2: Evan Jue ’28 & Santi Hernandez-Hoffman
Maggie: Pearce Knight ’27 (Ursuline) & Georgie Delgado ’27 (Ursuline)
Maria Merelli: Lucy Coligado ’27 (Ursuline) & Siena Abila ’28 (Ursuline)
Diana: Audrey Hale ’27 (Booker T) & Isla Hurley ’28 (Ursuline)
Julia: Lilly McDonald ’27 (Ursuline) & Colette Eppeneder ’28 (Ursuline)
“I am so honored and grateful for the opportunity to have portrayed the lead role of Max in Lend Me A Tenor. Also, that I was able to work alongside such an amazing group of castmates, crew, and directors on this hilarious production.” – Wills Blosser ’26
Costuming
Mr. Von did the costuming for Lend Me A Tenor. I asked Mr. Von the process behind the process of costuming.
“The show is set in the 1930s. In costuming it’s important to have a recognizable silhouette that matches the time period so that basically by just glancing at the characters the time period reads correctly and transports the audience into that time without them having to keep reminding themselves when it’s set. I also think that actors really transform into their characters when they look and feel the time they are in. For this reason, I went on a deep dive to find actual sewing patterns from the 1930s so I could try to make each character as authentic as possible. Sewing all of these from scratch, especially for a double cast, took a lot of time (apart from all the time working on the set), so I ended up having to find ready-made costumes for most of the guys except for the Pagliacci costumes which I made from a pattern. Luckily, men’s silhouettes are easier to match with costumes I already had/could find.” – Mr. Von
Reviews
The show had a great reception from audiences. I asked a couple of students their thoughts on the show. It was nothing but positive thoughts as described by Nathan Perez ’28.
“I think Lend Me a Tenor was a hilarious show and very well acted. [I] loved all the accents.” – Nathan Perez ’28
Lastly, I asked fellow Roundup writer Noah Cowley ’28 about his thoughts on the comedy.
“I was extremely impressed by the production and by the sheer skill of the actors…it was very enjoyable.” – Noah Cowley ’28
Conclusion
Ultimately, Jesuit Stage and Film had a great production which gave whoever came to the show a great time and it could not have been done without the cast or the little details like the stage and costuming
Stay tuned into The Roundup for more Jesuit Stage & Film Coverage!
Featured Image: Left to Right: Gabriel Miller ’26 and Wills Blosser ’26 singing (Credit: Trey Massey ’28)
