Actor Packet for the show, Lend Me A Tenor by Ken Ludwig. Contains production and historical information for the actors to obtain a better understanding of the show and farce.

1. Actor Packet

2. Glossary:
Italian Words
 Arrivederci [ahr-ree-ve-der-chee]: until we see each other
again; good-bye for the present. (page 48).
 Bellezza [bel-lettsa]: beauty (page 30).
 Benvenuto [ben-vuh-noo-toh]: welcome (page 18).
 Cento [scen-to] persona [pers-so-na]: one hundred
(persons) people (page 27).
 Ciao [chah-aw]: hello; goodbye; so long; see you later
(page 21).
 Grazie [gratt-sje]: thanks (page 22).

3.  Immediamente [immed-djata-mente]: immediately
(page 18).
 Pagliacci [ee-pah-lyaht-chee]: a clown... to the
extreme; a hot old man (page 23).
 Pizzicato [pit-si-kah-toh]: a note or
passage played by plucking strings
(page 35).
 Perfecto [pərˈfektō]: Perfect (page 26).
Pagliacci: “mad”/emotional
clown

4.  Presto [pres-tō]: suddenly as if by magic; at a rapid tempo —
used as a direction in music (page 18).
 Salut [(sə-lo̅o̅t′]: To greet or address with an expression of
welcome, goodwill, or respect. (page 33).
 Scusi [skuzi]: excuse me, pardon me (page 29).
 Signor(a) [sēnˈyôr(a)]: a title or form of address used of or to an
Italian-speaking man (or woman), corresponding to
Mr.(Miss.,Mrs.,Ms.) or sir (madam) (page 18).

5. Glossary:
Unfamiliar Words
 Chianti [kee-ahn-tee]: a dry, red, Italian table wine,
originally put up in straw-covered bottles
(page 15).
 Cognoscenti [kon-yuh-shen-tee]: persons who
have superior knowledge and understanding
of a particular field, especially in the
fine arts, literature, and world of fashion
(page 17).
 Erroneous [uh-roh-nee-uhs]: containing error; mistaken;
incorrect; wrong; straying from what is moral, decent, proper,
etc. (page 14).

6.  Factotum [fak-toh-tuhm]: a person, as a handyman or
servant, employed to do all kinds of work around the
house; any employee or official having many different
responsibilities (page 19).
 Phenobarbital [fee-noh-bahr-bi-tawl]: a white, crystalline
powder, {C12 H12 N2 O3}, used as a sedative, a hypnotic,
and as an antispasmodic in epilepsy (page 15).

7. World of the Play:
1930’s America
 United States feeling the effects of The Great Depression
 15 million Americans (one-quarter of all wage-earning
workers) were umemployed
 People lived in make-shift homes called “Hoovervilles”
names after President Herbert Hoover
-Believed that people shouldn’t depend on the government to solve
their problems; felt they wouldn’t get things done on their own
-Key factor to why he was NOT re-elected

8.  FDR Launches New Deal to help the American people and stop economy
from getting worse
 Prohibition Ends in the U.S. (Dec. 5th, 1933)
 The Dust Bowl: area of the Great Plains devastated by drought and soil
erosion
*Red font indicates events that occurred the year Lend Me A Tenor took place
(1934)

10. World Leaders
 Franklin D. Roosevelt elected President of the U.S. in 1932
defeating Herbert Hoover
 Stalin Begins Collectivizing Agriculture in the U.S.S.R. (1929)
 Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany: Rise of the
Nazism (1933)

11. HOW IT ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE
How it looked like

12. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Elected President of
the United States on
Nov. 8th, 1932. Took
office on Mar. 4th,
1933
Adolf Hitler Appointed
Chancellor of Germany on
Jan. 30th, 1933. On August
19th, the position of
President and Chancellor
were combined, making
Hitler Head of State and
Head of Gov. Hitler was
then formally named as
Führer und Reichskanzler
(leader and chancellor).
Joseph Stalin began a secret mission to eliminate all opposition to him that could threaten his
rise to power. Having a falling out with Vladimir Lenin (then leader of the U.S.S.R.) he
conspired to prevent Lenin’s written testament dismissing his ideals. After Lenin died, Stalin
and his allies set off to their mission. They were able to defeat their opponents and by the
late 1920’s he was the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union.

13. 1930’s World Events
 The Great Terror Begins in the Soviet Union: period when Joesph Stalin
eliminated any and all (inner) threats to his dictatorship rule
 Hitler Annexes Austria
 World War II Begins on Sept. 1, 1939 after German invasion of Poland
 U.S. does NOT involve itself into the war (yet); provides Arms and support to
its allies.

14. 1980’s America
 John Lennon Assassinated
 Mount St. Helens Erupts
 PC’s introduced by IBM
 1st woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court
 Sally Ride becomes first woman in space

15. 1980’s World Events
 AIDS “Epidemic”
 Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion
 Berlin Wall Falls
*Red font indicates events that occured the year Lend Me A Tenor was written
(1989)

16. 1930’s Culture
 Everyone was dependent on the radio
 Popular broadcasts gave people an opportunity to cast their
worries to the side
 Main form of communication besides newspaper
 People looked towards sports, films, music and dance as a form
of escape from the troubles of the depression

17.  Gangster films were popular amongst people
 Bootlegging along with organized crime goes up until the end of
prohibition
 Dance halls were filled with the music of jazz legends Benny
Goodman (The King of Swing) and Fletcher Henderson

18. Play Issues:
Love
 Maggie yearns for a fling; something that she doesn’t have with Max; according to
her. She is trying to find something exciting and special in her life so she can be
content.
“Max. I’m just not ready yet. I want something special first. Something wonderful and
romantic” (Ludwig 12).
“I haven’t had any flings, Max…I just fell that I need some…wider experience” (Ludwig
12-13).
-Max loves Maggie
-Maggie has a schoolgirl-ish crush on Tito
-Tito’s love for his wife, Maria
-Maria’s jealously of girls falling for Tito
-Diana and Julia’s fixation on Tito

19. Betrayal
 Maggie betrays her father by disobeying him
 Maggie also betrays in a way Max by sleeping with “Tito”; Max in disguise
 Max betrays Tito by drugging him in an attempt to calm him down
 Tito betrays Maria by having relationships with other women; sleeping with
Diana
 Max as Tito betrays Julia by saying that he will make an appearance at the
show’s after party at the hotel
 Max and Saunders betray almost everyone by making them think that Max is
Tito and trying to conceal Tito’s apparent death
 Julia and Maggie betray Saunders by lying to him about their whereabouts

20. Mistaken Identity
 After the “death” of Tito Merelli, Saunders comes up with an
elaborate plan to not only keep Tito’s death a secret for now,
but also save the show that night. He enlists his assistant, Max,
to play the part of Othello and impersonate Tito for just the
performance until they can announce his death.
 And the fun begins…

21.  Max as Tito
 Two Tito’s: one sleeps with Maggie and the other with Diana
 Tito punches a police officer and is worried that he might get arrested; the
others are urged to be on the look out for the imposter
 Both “Tito’s” are never seen by the other characters in the same room at the
same time
 Maggie and Julia confront Max-Tito as they chase him around the hotel room
only for him to end up in the bathroom
 Real Tito enters the room with Saunders, Julia and the bellhop in pursuit
 Everything clears up when Max emerges from the bathroom, dressed in coat
and tie and out of the disguise

22. Playwright
 Ken Ludwig on Lend Me A Tenor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNaGvcFC7gc

23. Performance Info:
What is a “Farce”?
 “Light, dramatic composition that uses highly improbable situations,
stereotyped characters, violent horseplay, and broad humor. Farce is
generally regarded as intellectually and aesthetically inferior to comedy in
its crude characterizations and implausible plots, but it has remained
popular throughout the West from ancient times to the present.” –
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
 a funny play or movie about ridiculous situations and events
 the style of humor that occurs in a farce
 a light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and
improbable plot

24. Themes in Farce
 Mistaken Identity
 Improbable situations (everything goes wrong)
 Sexual innuendos
 Word Play
 Fast-Paced Plot
 No boring moments
 Stereotypical characters
 Chase scenes are expected (multiple)
 Sophisticated Verbal Humor (can be combined with physical humor; a lot of
slapstick)

25.  Lots of doors opening and closing
 Characters just missing each other when they
enter/exit
 “A farce can be defined as a comic theatrical work
that uses buffoonery, horseplay and ludicrously
improbable situations. Often, the plot depends
upon a dexterously exploited circumstance rather
than upon the development of character.”

26. Helpful Videos
 http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/dramatic-farce-
history-examples-and-playwrights.html#lesson (First 3 min.)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00xPrvcUoQk
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WffXPydNIvA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6q37n7GDCY
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQXwt83hYkE
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruHl7mkCoj4
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPT2l-UXKYE

27. Contemporary Examples
 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7mrv1_how-i-
met-your-mother-not-ted-mosby_fun
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6TYFLevmAc
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTQfGd3G6dg

28. Music in Play
(performed/referneced)
 II Stupendo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSx_Mp_XQEc
(1:10-1:50)
 The Barber of Seville (page 23):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qHZkkgowdY
 Carmen (page 23):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDsDi1OKxnE

29. Referenced People
 Lauritz Melchior
 March 20, 1890 – March 19, 1973
 Danish and later American opera
singer.
 Pre-eminent Wagnerian tenor of
the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s
 Come to be considered the
quintessence of his voice type
 “Where would Lauritz Melchoir be
today if he’d taken Phenobarital?”
(Ludwig 15).
 Sophia Loren
 September 20, 1934
 Italian actress.
 Widely recognized as Italy's
most renowned and honored
actress
 “Maria is the Sophia Loren
type: busty, proud and
excitable” (Ludwig 20).

30. Contact Info
 Alberto Vasquez
 albertovasquez@email.arizona.edu