Justin Bartha Rumored to Join Broadway Revival of Lend Me a Tenor

Film actor Justin Bartha is headed for the Broadway revival of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor, according to Variety. Although a production spokesperson would not confirm the report, Variety writes that the Hangover star will play Max, a role that T.R. Knight had supposedly been set to play after participating in readings of the farcical comedy with director Stanley Tucci. Performances will begin the Music Box Theatre on March 11, with opening night set for April 4.

Confirmed for the production are Anthony LaPaglia (Tito Merelli), Tony Shalhoub (Saunders), Jan Maxwell (Maria), Brooke Adams (Julia), Mary Catherine Garrison (Maggie), Jennifer Laura Thompson (Diana) and Jay Klaitz (The Bellhop).

Set in the 1930s, Lend Me a Tenor is a madcap screwball comedy that takes place when Tito Merelli, a fiery-tempered and world famous Italian superstar, arrives in Cleveland to make his debut with the local opera and promptly goes missing. As Saunders, the show's presenter, conspires to cover for Tito’s absence, placate his hot-blooded wife and distract his most passionate fans, chaos on a truly operatic level ensues. Max, the role to be played by Bartha, is Saunders’ hapless assistant, tapped to star in the opera in Tito’s absence.

Lend Me a Tenor made its Broadway debut on March 2, 1989, at the Royale Theatre, starring Philip Bosco, Jane Connell, Tovah Feldshuh, Victor Garber, Ron Holgate and J. Smith-Cameron. The production won two Tony Awards before closing on April 22, 1990, after 476 performances.

In addition to playing would-be groom Doug Billings in The Hangover, Bartha co-starred with Catherine Zeta-Jones in The Rebound and in two National Treasure movies as well as in films such as Holy Rollers, Failure to Launch and New York, I Love You. According to his personal website, "After scoring a role in the local production of A Midsummer Night's Dream [in West Bloomfield, Michigan] he formed a children's theatre group of 15 where he performed for children in hospitals and at elementary schools."