LEND ME A TENOR THE MUSICAL Oper Leipzig Anne-Kathrin Fischer, Ariane Liebau, Verena Barth-Jurca and Patrick Rohbeck Photo Bettina Stöss

Lend Me A Tenor The Musical, written by SUU’s own Peter Sham & Brad Carroll, made its world premiere at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City in 2007. Earlier this month, it made its German debut at Oper Leipzig.

Based on the award-winning West End and Broadway hit comedy by Ken Ludwig, Lend Me a Tenor is set in 1934 Cleveland, Ohio, where the world’s greatest tenor Tito Merelli who has come to Cleveland to save its Grand Opera Company by singing Verdi’s Otello. When he is unexpectedly incapacitated, Max, the opera director’s meek assistant, is given the daunting task of finding a last-minute replacement. Of course chaos ensues – including a scheming soprano, a tenor-struck ingénue, a jealous wife, shrimp gone bad and the Cleveland Police department.

This new German production features the subtitle of Otello Must Not Burst (the German title of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor) and is part of Oper Zeipzig’s Musical Comedy division. The production is directed by Volker Vogel and features musical direction by Roland Seiffarth and choreography by Giorgio Madia. Both Peter Sham and Brad Carroll have been able to see photos of the production. “Design-wise it looks hilarious” says Sham, “Brad and I wish them the very best.”

Peter Sham is associate chair/director of theatre for Southern Utah University’s Department of Theatre Arts & Dance. In addition to Lend me a Tenor the Musical, Peter is the author of the musicals, Toyland, It’s a Dog’s Life: Man’s Best Musical; and the plays, Shakespeare’s Moby Dick, a classical adaptation of Herman Melville’s American masterpiece, and A Christmas Carol On the Air among others. Brad Carroll is a recognized regional director, music director and composer whose work has taken him all over the US as well as to Europe, Japan and the UK. He is co-creating a musical stage adaptation of the animated feature Christmas is Here Again, commissioned by Renegade Animation in Los Angeles. He recently made his first foray into film, scoring the independent short, X-Treme Weekend. As a Writer, Director and Musical Arranger for Walt Disney Entertainment, Brad was involved in the creation of three new shows for the multi-billion dollar TokyoDisneySea theme park that opened in Japan in 2001. His musical arrangements/orchestrations have been performed by such prestigious organizations as the San Francisco Symphony and the Boston Pops. His long association with the Utah Shakespeare Festival includes directing the Festival’s immensely popular production of Les Misérables and continues in summer 2013 with his direction of Anything Goes. For Southern Utah University’s Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, he directed Into the Woods, Little Women the Broadway Musical and the recent highly successful production of CHICAGO the Musical.

Laura Durham

Laura Durham is the Director of Programming and Engagement for PBS Utah. She curates projects and plans events that utilize local and national media to provide entertainment and meaningful dialogue beyond broadcast. Prior to PBS Utah, Laura worked at the Division of Arts & Museums for 15 years, served as Vice President of the Salt Lake Gallery Association, Program Director for the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll, and was a board member for the Utah Cultural Alliance.