Mayhem ensues when Il Stupendo comes to town and shows up at Rhinebeck High School in Lend Me a Tenor

September 16 - 24, 2011

• Rhinebeck High School
• 45 North Park Road
  Rhinebeck, NY 12572
• 845-876-3080

As you may know, The CENTER experienced catastrophic flooding and is closed for repairs and renovations.  Rhinebeck High School has come to our aid and the show will go on with performances September 16-24 at 8p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. on Sunday, and a special added matinee on Saturday, September 24th, at 3pm. Show your true spirit and support The CENTER by purchasing tickets for a guaranteed laugh.  Tickets for the September 16-24 performances are $24 for adults and $22 for seniors and children and can be ordered by visiting www.centerforperformingarts.org or by calling The CENTER’s box office at (845) 876 3080. Box office hours are 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sunday.

The CENTER, a non-profit arts and education organization, is located at 661 Route 308, three miles east of the village center in Rhinebeck.

The media is cordially invited to preview and review this production.

What happens when an Italian tenor agrees to do an opera fundraiser but fails to show up and somebody else does the show in his place who everybody thinks is him, including the tenor’s wife and somebody else’s girlfriend (and the producer and a society dame and a bell boy and a panting leading lady), and there’s two acts, two rooms, and six slamming doors?

Well, you’re in for real fun when CENTERstage and Johnny Dell bring Ken Ludwig’s Tony Award-winning comedic farce to the stage at Rhinebeck High School this September. The year is 1934 and renowned tenor Tito Merelli (played by Johnny Dell) is scheduled to sing Otello at the Cleveland Opera Company. Witness the unraveling as everything that can go wrong, does!  Mistaken identities, yes. Innuendos galore, yes. Slamming doors- oh, yes indeed. This is comedy at its’ best---zany, goofy and off-the wall.

Deborah Temple directs this cast of characters guaranteed to make you laugh.  Johnny Dell (Il Stupendo aka Tito Merelli) and Joe Felece (Saunders) appeared opposite each other in last September’s hilarious hit The Odd Couple and are sure to have you rolling in the aisles this time around. David Temple takes the stage as Max and is in love with Maggie, played by Michelle Martin.  Claudia Brown (Tito’s wife, Marie), Amy Robinson (Chair of the Opera Guild, Julia) and James Rowland (the aspiring opera singer, by-day bellhop) round out this cast made for amusement.

So, grab a friend or two and head to Rhinebeck to forget all of your woes and find out why laughter really is the best medicine.