Philip Bosco in Lend Me a Tenor

I was just thinking, the late Philip Bosco was a friend of my family, and Ive always heard such excellent things about his Tony winning work in Lend Me a Tenor, and also his work in general. Ive seen a wonderful clip of him and fellow nominee Victor Garber performing a scene at the Tonys that year, I doubt theres anything else I could watch without heading over the archive, which is definitely not an option at this time.

So I just wanted to hear what anyone who actually saw him in the show has to say about him. Was he really just that hysterical throughout as he was in the Tonys video?

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I saw it and loved it.....but it was 30 years ago, so I'm afraid I can't speak on too many specifics.



I remember falling in love with Garber, Feldshuh (Hell, I wanted to BE her!) and Bosco. What a romp. Everyone's timing was impeccable, and the joy in the theater was overbounding. I hold the show in very high regard.

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I only saw Tenor once. It was so light it could have floated away. It was delightful, especially at the end, when they essentially did a Cliff Notes version of the entire play in about 2 minutes, with everyone racing around the stage.

Bosco stole the show which, as I recall, was really a very short, ensemble piece. He was brilliant, never more so than in a reaction shot, where he stared at the other character for about 90 seconds with the most absurd look on his face; the audience laughter getting louder and louder as the silence progressed.

That reaction shot is one of my favorite memories from all the comedy performances I have seen on stage in the past 55 years.