Showmag.com

North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach (in Northern San Diego County) is a shimmering jewel in the crown of Southern California theater. But, even though the North Coast Rep is beginning its fourth decade as a performing company, many LA/OC theatergoers have yet to become acquainted with this longstanding troupe’s top quality productions.

Now’s the opportunity to see the group at their finest. NCR is staging  Ken Ludwig’s rollicking 1986 farce, Lend Me a Tenor, and, under Matthew Wiener’s impressively meticulous direction, it is hands-down, head-over-belly, laugh-out-loud hilarious.

An ensemble of eight nimble actors milk what seems to be every double entendre, twisted meaning, and mischievous misunderstanding imaginable from Ludwig’s air-tight farcical formula. As you may have surmised by the play’s title, the plot is built around an opera singer. He’s an exquisite star performer in this most grand of performance arts, and, he has the most rarefied of vocal registers: He is a tenor, after all.

His name is Tito Merelli, but in the world of international opera, he’s known as “Il Stupendo.” Tito has agreed to sing the lead role in Verdi’s Otello. The gig is a mere fundraiser for the minor league Cleveland Opera Company, and Tito has performed as Otello in opera houses around the world; he even has his own costumes for the role (two of them, just in case). Therefore, this engagement should be less than challenging, right? Wrong!

Havoc ensues when Tito’s hot-tempered wife, Maria, mistakenly takes Maggie—an innocent autograph-hound and daughter to the Opera’s general manager—as Tito’s amorous liaison. Maria flees from the presumably adulterous Tito, leaving a “Dear John” missive for him, which is misinterpreted as a suicide note.

In an attempt to relax the troubled Tito, he is unintentionally given a double dosage of tranquilizing drugs, which he washes down with a vintage bottle of vino, courtesy of Max—an assistant to General Manager Saunders and Maggie’s actual love interest. When Tito becomes limply incapacitated due to over inebriation, he is assumed to be dead by the panicked Max and Saunders. Nevertheless, the show must go on. So Saunders has a brainstorm: Max—a wannabe Opera singer himself—should assume Tito’s identity and perform as Otello.

With impeccable comic timing and crisp characterizations, this cast—Ted Barton as Saunders; Christopher M. Williams as Max; Jessica John as Maria; Courtney Corey as Maggie; Jill Drexler as Julia; Jacque Wilke as Diana; Albert Park as The Bellhop; and, the formidable Bernard X. Kopsho as Tito— hits all the right comedic notes.

What’s more, Marty Burnett’s scenic design; John Finkbiner’s scenic art; Matt Novotny’s lighting ; Chris Luessmann’s sound design; Sonia Elizabeth Lerner’s costumes (Tenor is set in 1934, and the clothes are pitch-perfect); and   Peter Herman’s hair and wig stylings all make this Tenor a showpiece of a show, emblematic of North Coast Rep’s illustrious theatrical capabilities.

“Lend Me a Tenor” continues at the North Coast Repertory Theatre—987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach—through October 2. Show times are Thursday – Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Matinees are Sundays at 2 p.m. For reservations dial (858) 481 – 1055. For online ticketing and further information, visit www.northcoastrep.org.