Category Archives: High School Theatre

Owen Cummings as Tito and Leo Jenkins as Max. Photo by Mikki Schaffner Photography.

The Walnut Hills High School Theatre Department Welcomes Back Live Audiences to the Blackbox Theatre with the hilarious Screwball Comedy, LEND ME A TENOR

Cincinnati, OH-After an amazing previous performance in the Rick Steiner Blackbox Theatre with Rhinoceros, the Walnut Hills High School Theatre Department is eager to welcome back audiences with Ken Ludwig’s hilarious screwball comedy, Lend Me a Tenor.  A sensation on Broadway and in London’s West End, this madcap romp is guaranteed to make audiences teary-eyed with laughter.

The show runs April 21st-23rd, 2022 at 7 p.m. with an additional 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, April 23rd.

Set in September 1934, Saunders, the general manager of the Cleveland Grand opera Company, is preparing to welcome Tito Merelli, the greatest tenor of his generation and known as Il Stupendo, to appear for one night only as the star of the opera. However, Tito arrives late and through a hilarious series of mishaps, is given a double-dose of tranquilizer and passes out, making his pulse so low Saunders and his assistant Mas believe he’s dead. In a frantic attempt to salvage the opera, Saunders persuades Max to fool the audience into thinking he is the great Tito Merelli by getting into his costume. Max succeeds and lives up to his idol, but Merelli regains consciousness and gets into an identical costume, ready to perform. Now two opera singers are running around in the same costume with two women chasing them, both thinking they are with Il Stupendo.

“Mistaken identities, slamming doors, Scooby-Doo style chases– it’s a classic farce ” says co-director Helen Raymond-Goers. “After the last couple years, it’s time for us all to take things a little less seriously, at least for a couple hours, and Lend Me A Tenor gives us a great opportunity to find the silly in the ordinary and the absolutely ridiculous in the extraordinary.”

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students. They are now available, and can be purchased at: https://sites.google.com/view/whhstheatredepartment/tickets, where audience members can also read the COVID 19 policies for attending the performance.  Seating is no longer limited, and we are excited to announce that we are back to full capacity. Masks are encouraged, but optional for all audience members.

This production and the entire WHHS Theatre Season is graciously sponsored by the Walnut Hills High School Class of 1964 Performing Arts Fund.

Featuring Leo Jenkins as Max, Anika Vockell as Maggie, Emma Smith as Saunders, Owen Cummings as Tito, Chloe Goodman as Maria, Sophie Christian as the Bellhop, Gwen Schumann as Diana, and Kayla McGraw as Julia.

• Co-Directed by Ryan Peerless and Helen A. Raymond-Goers
• Technical Director- Helen A. Raymond-Goers
• Production Stage Manager- Mary Sullivan
• Assistant Stage Manager- Jamiera Jones
• Costume Designer- Helen A. Raymond-Goers
• Hair and Makeup Designer- Laurel Prince
• Lighting Designer- Allison Calkins
• Marketing and Publicity Head- Lizzy Rebber
• Master Electrician- Reagan Warvel
• Props Designer- Sophia Rooksberry
• Co-Scenic Designer- Ryan Peerless and Helen A. Raymond-Goers
• Co-Sound Designer- Reagan Warvel and Cristian Grover