Lend Me a Tenor - The Musical, Gielgud Theatre

Lend Me a Tenor - The Musical, Gielgud Theatre | reviews, news & interviews

Lend Me a Tenor - The Musical, Gielgud Theatre

Far from a flop, this frothy 1930s pastiche is strongly cast and staged

by David NiceWednesday, 15 June 2011

Yes he can: Damian Humbley's Max Garber finds the tenor within while Michael Matus's Tito Merelli leaps for joyAll production photographs by Roy Tan

Acid prophecies of this show’s swift demise, as with that of the great Italian tenor whose supposed transformation from il stupendo to il stifferino results in the debut of a surpise new Otello at the "Cleveland Grand Opera", turn out to be greatly exaggerated. Allora, the tunes and the lyrics aren’t prime cut, but it’s slickly done, strongly cast and contains enough frothy set pieces to earn its salt. And any musical which has stylish fun with both the most electrifying opening of any opera (Verdi's, of course) and the noblest curtain deserves to run and run, in my book at least.

Sophie-Louise Dann, as the cruelly dubbed inge-not-so-nue, comes close to stealing the show

Buy

Reduced price tickets for Lend Me a Tenor on London Theatre Store

Explore topics

Share this article

...

Permalink Submitted by Trevor Chenery (not verified) on Thu, 16/06/2011 - 10:00

David, succinctly sums up the appeal of this show. It brought to mind: Kiss Me Kate meets The Producers with a dash of A Night At The Opera. Act 2 needs a little tweak and as with all fast-moving farces it needs time to settle. Could be a big hit with family audiences and the teen and pre-teen market that 'Wicked' has cornered could find it very appealing. Just need to persuade Delfont Mackintosh to replace the in-house ice cream line with "Cornettos" and they're home.

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Theatre

Twelfth Night, Royal Shakespeare Theatre review - comic energy dissipates in too large a space Too much thinking; not enough laughing

You Me Bum Bum Train, secret location review - a joyful multiverse of anarchic creativity This latest incarnation of the show is a wild, spinning ride through different forms of reality

The Tempest, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane review - Sigourney Weaver's impassive Prospero inhabits an atmospheric, desolate world Magic is minimised in Jamie Lloyd's pared-back version

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Donmar Warehouse review - a blazingly original musical flashes into the West End War and Peace - but not as you know it

The Invention of Love, Hampstead Theatre review - beautiful wit, awkward staging Tom Stoppard’s evocation of Victorian golden age Oxford stars Simon Russell Beale

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, New Adventures, Sadler's Wells review - 30 years on, as bold and brilliant as ever A masterly reinvention has become a classic itself

The Little Foxes, Young Vic review - timeshifted production blurs the play's focus Lillian Hellman’s family feud set in 1900 Alabama doesn’t survive a confused updating