Lend Me a Tenor opened up on November 20th with out standing success. In the opening moments of the show, the audience was over whelmed with laughter. The weekend that fallowed would result in a total of 580 ticket sales. The road leading up to opening night was not an easy one. Long rigorous hours spent on the stage for Deborah Bradshaw and the cast themselves lead to one of the hardest practices so far for the theater’s cast.
Since the previous article, the stage was empty and contained almost nothing to indicate it was a hotel room, except for a few pieces of furniture, a mattress, and a portable door.
The actors were still reading off of their scripts and had yet to realize their characters completely. As the weeks passed, Bradshaw’s vision became more and more realized. The actors not only memorized their lines, but also made believable well-rounded characters that practically forced laughter out of anyone who had been able to witness rehearsals.
Production did not go without incident, however. During production, Kevin Kolva, a frequent veteran of Deborah’s productions, suffered a deep tissue injury while moving a table in the Luciano building when he dropped it onto his foot.
“I had to just deal with it and hope I got better in time”, says Kevin. Deborah commented “in a fast paced and very physical show like Tenor, any injury, especially one that can limit mobility, presents a challenge.”
challenge. Throughout the following week, Kevin continued to show up to rehearsal with a cane, and worked through the show despite his injury, even going so far as to perform the more physically demanding parts of the show.
The music had also been a great source of trouble for the cast. “While not being an obstacle, it certainly has been a challenge” says Deborah. “The publishers version of the music didn’t match up with what we had written on the script”. The lack of rehearsal space had also served to be a problem, when entire nights had to be canceled because the stage was reserved at the last minute. Among these, the short amount of hours, and a three day week, made things difficult for the cast.
Despite all of these, the cast and crew worked through it and managed to develop a show exceeding the standards of Deborah and the cast.
“It already is a success in many ways”, says Deborah “At the end of the day, I access success this way… did I work hard and honestly and give it everything I could? That’s my answer. I hope the audiences enjoy our efforts, this is an edgy show with adult humor.”
“I love it!” Kevin added. “It’s just pure UN-adulterated fun. I love being over the top, and I love the perfect timing the show has.”
Now that the show is over and the cast has had a long deserved break, Bradshaw will begin work on her next show, Guys and Dolls in the spring.
