Master of comedy and farce, Ken Ludwig, has adapted his Tony Award-winning Broadway hit Lend Me A Tenor for a new generation, with the genders swapped. The hilarious result is Lend Me A Soprano! It’s 1934, and world-famous Italian soprano Elena Firenzi, the biggest star of her era, is in town for a one-night-only concert with the Cleveland Grand Opera Company. The gala performance is the apex of general manager Lucille Wylie’s career, and she’s given her assistant Jo one job – keep Elena away from men and liquor until the curtain rises. But when events spiral out of Jo’s control, she’s got one chance to set everything right.
By
Ken Ludwig
Directed by
Eleanor Holdridge
Meet the playwright
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Ken Ludwig has had six shows on Broadway and seven in London’s West End. His 32 plays and musicals are staged around the world and throughout the United States every night of the year. His first play, Lend Me a Tenor, won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. Crazy For You, which returns to the West End this summer, was on Broadway for five years, on the West End for three, and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. In addition, he has won the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, the Charles MacArthur Award, and the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of the Year. His other plays include Moon Over Buffalo (Broadway with Carol Burnett, Lynn Redgrave, and Tony Shaloub, in London with Joan Collins); Twentieth Century (Broadway with Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche); The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Broadway with Kristen Bell); Be My Baby (Alley Theatre with Hal Holbrook and Dixie Carter); Leading Ladies (Alley Theatre); a stage version of Murder on the Orient Express written expressly at the request of the Agatha Christie Estate; Baskerville; A Comedy of Tenors; A Fox on the Fairway; The Gods of Comedy; Shakespeare in Hollywood; and The Game’s Afoot. His adaptations include Treasure Island (Alley Theatre, Theatre Royal Haymarket, AATE Distinguished Play Award); The Three Musketeers (Bristol Old Vic); Sherwood, The Adventures of Robin Hood; and The Beaux’ Stratagem; and His book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, published by Penguin Random House, won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year, and his essays are published in the Yale Review. His first opera, Tenor Overboard, premiered at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival. His newest plays include Lend Me A Soprano, Pride and Prejudice, Part 2: Napoleon at Pemberley; Lady Molly of Scotland Yard; and Moriarty, which premiered at Cleveland Play House in spring of 2023.
