MAT's production of 'Lend Me A Tenor' opens Friday

Starting Friday, Montana Actors' Theatre will be performing its production of Ken Ludwig's "Lend Me A Tenor," directed by Grant Olson. The classic play was first produced in the 1980s and has been performed several times on Broadway.

"Lend Me A Tenor" is about a general manager named Saunders who manages the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, and welcomes world-famous singer Tito Merelli, known as Il Stupendo, the greatest tenor of his generation, to appear for one night only as the star of the opera.

Merelli arrives late, and through a hilarious series of mishaps, he is given a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant Max believe he's dead.

In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders persuades Max to get into Merelli's costume and fool the audience into thinking he's Il Stupendo. Max succeeds and lives up to his idol, but Merelli regains consciousness and gets into the identical costume, ready to perform.

Olson discussed how large the crew is for this play.

"There has been a huge crew working on set and costumes. This is going to be a beautiful play. It is set in a very posh hotel in the 1930s, so Art Deco Art Nouveau," Olson said, "The set was designed by Tylyn Turner and Angela Pratt, and built and decorated by our regular crew of MSU-Northern students, as well as Casey Pratt, Angela Pratt, Tylyn Turner, Joey Todd, Mary Ward, Erin Lynch, Charles Finn, T.C. Knutson and more."

The play will have six entrances on the set in the theater.

"Every play takes so many people to stage. The costumes were designed and constructed by Audrey Barger," Olson added. "Like the set, the time period is very opulent and allows for some very stunning costumes. This is a fairly seasoned cast, but we have a few actors new to the stage, but not to the theatre.

"It has been fun playing with the physical comedy of this piece. This group of actors has phenomenal timing, we have had moments where we were all laughing so hard we couldn't move on with rehearsal until we took a break," Olson added.

Olson recounted his 26 years of directing, from his first shows to his present-day work as artistic director for the troupe.

"I have been directing since 1997. I first directed with John Musgrove and Jay Pyette at Havre High while a student at MSU-Northern. I directed the first MAT performance at MSU-Northern - 'London Suite,' in 2000 or 2001. That show led to MAT becoming the resident theater company here around that time," Olson said, "I have directed in England, Scotland and here in Montana, in Missoula and Havre. I did my master's degree at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and King's College London, then returned to Kingston University to do my Ph.D. in acting and directing studies."

Olson has a true passion of theater.

"Every show I am currently working on is my favorite, but some that stick out are 'Equivocation,' ... 'The Dead of Winter,' a play that (MAT Executive Director Jay Pyette) wrote that we toured to London ... and the first MAT production of 'The Rocky Horror Show' that has been produced in Missoula by MAT since I directed it in 2009," Olson said.

The cast members of "Lend Me a Tenor" are Barry Brownlee, who will be Max, Sami Brownlee will be Maggie, and Martin Holt will perform as Saunders. Ian Munson is Tito Merelli. Brooke Kline plays as Maria. Mark Cichosz will be the bellhop. Bri Cote is Diana, and Angela Murri is Julia.

The performance will be held Oct. 6-7, 12-14, and 19-21, beginning at 8 p.m. at the Little Theatre in Northern's Cowan Hall.