4CP works well together in ‘Tenor’

Some of the best singers in Charlottesville-area theater can now be seen onstage in Four County Players’ funny production of the Ken Ludwig farce “Lend Me a Tenor.”

Despite the play’s title, though, most of them — including Doug Schneider and Kate Lambert — don’t sing a note. But good timing is a prerequisite for both music and comedy, and this cast is as good at comedic timing as any of them is at music.

The play is classic farce, with mistaken identities, larger-than life characters, sexual innuendo, mistaken identities, lowbrow humor, improbable situations and lots of doors.

Though it was first performed in London in 1986 and New York in 1989, its DNA goes way back, to commedia del’ arte and classic French farce.

This is the kind of show that, if done badly, is disastrous. When it’s done well, though, the audience is carried on a slow-starting theatrical train that picks up so much speed that comic derailment seems inevitable.

Under the direction of Ken Waller, 4CP’s presentation of this barrels along so fast in the second act that by the end the laughing audience is almost as exhausted as the cast must be.

Set in 1934, “Tenor” focuses on a fictional Cleveland opera company’s big night, when a world-renowned Italian tenor is set to play the lead in “Otello.” Through a series of absurd events, the company’s producer and his hapless assistant come to think the lecherous tenor has committed suicide, but rather than cancel the performance, they conspire to have the assistant sing the role, under the assumption that no one in Cleveland has seen the tenor and thus won’t know the difference, especially considering the costume.

Of course the tenor, who has conveniently brought two costumes with him, is not dead, and all sorts of shenanigans ensue.

Doug Schneider clearly relishes each moment on stage as Saunders, the producer, with impeccable comic timing and characterization. Chuck Beretz, who may not be as well known around the area, does a stellar job in a central role, as Max, timid assistant to Saunders and unwilling tenor impersonator. They have such good onstage chemistry that they could probably pull off Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom in “The Producers.”

Beretz has a lot of the show on his shoulders, and he carries it well.

Bob Davis gives one of his best performances to date as Tito, the real tenor, and Gary White is hilarious as a singing bellhop.

Of course, women fight for the famous Italian, despite his stern wife, well played by Linda Waller. Sunshine Manderbach handles the role of Maggie, Saunders’ star-struck daughter, well, and Kate Lambert is very funny as Diana, the opera singer who is willing to open her doors for Tito if he will open some for her. Mary Beth Wiley rounds out the group as Julia, head of the opera guild.

All of them perform on a nice Art Deco set by Daniel J. Hager II, under Wayne Brown’s lights.

The key to a farce working well is a good company and strong direction, and Waller has done a fine job with this one, casting it well and keeping everybody moving. Not all of the performances are equally good, but they are all more than good enough, and the group works as a true ensemble.

The prices for this are so reasonable that even with gas with an all-time high, if you need a good dose of concentrated silliness in your life, the drive to Barboursville will be well worth it.