Joanna Riding Joins West End Production of Lend Me a Tenor Musical

Casting is complete for the musical adaptation of Ken Ludwig’s farcical comedy Lend Me a Tenor, which begins previews at London’s Gielgud Theatre on June 2 and officially open on June 15. Olivier Award winner Ian Talbot (Anything Goes, High Society) will direct.

In addition to previously reported cast members Matthew Kelly (Henry Saunders), Damian Humbley (Max), Michael Matus (Tito Merelli) and Sophie-Louise Dann (Diana Divane), the cast will also include two-time Olivier Award winner Joanna Riding as Maria Merelli and Cassidy Janson as Maggie Saunders, with Gay Soper, Jane Quinn and Michelle Bishop as ladies of the Opera Guild.

Rounding out the company will be Jemma Alexander, Karen Aspinall, Natasha J. Barnes, Nick Butcher, Kelly Chinery, Sharon Eckman, Daniel Farrow, Andrew Keelan, Kara Lane, Connor McAllister, Haydn Oakley, Stephen Oliver-Webb, Ryan Pidgen, Jeremy Secomb, Emma Sewell, John Stacey, Robert Traynor and Michelle White.

Lend Me a Tenor the Musical, which began life at Theatre Royal Plymouth in 2010, features a book and lyrics by Peter Sham and music by Brad Carroll. The show is set in 1934, when the world’s greatest tenor, Tito Merelli, 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. Chaos ensues—including a scheming soprano, a tenor-struck ingénue, a jealous wife, shrimp gone bad and the Cleveland Police department.