Live (and lively) theater returns to the St. Mane stage in Lanesboro in early March  — after a long pandemic-created pause — with the production of the comedy Lend Me a Tenor by the Lanesboro Community Theater. Under the direction of Kari Berg, there will be six performances of the play over the first two weekends in March, including matinees on both Sunday afternoons.

Called a “comedy of mistaken identity and elaborate subterfuge,” and written by Ken Ludwig, Lend Me a Tenor” was first presented on Broadway in 1989, produced by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Nominated for nine Tony Awards, it went on to win three. The play tells the mixed-up story of Tito Mirelli, a world-famous Italian tenor and confirmed connoisseur of wine and women, who is scheduled to star in “I, Pagliacci” at the Cleveland Grand Opera Company. After a fiery but comic kerfuffle with his wife Maria, the scheduled star gets more than a little incapacitated through a double-dose of tranquilizers, and Max, the Cleveland Company’s nervous and lowly assistant with a hidden talent, has to step in to try to save the performance.

“It’s a fast-paced comedy with colorful characters, people hiding around the stage, and lots of laughter. Audiences will enjoy it, we’re sure!”

Performances at the St. Mane Theater, located at 206 Parkway Ave. North, will take place on Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5 at 7 p.m.; Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, March 11 and 12 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 13 at 2 p.m. The $15 tickets (with a 3% surcharge for credit card sales) are available at the Parkway Market in Lanesboro or online at universe.com. (Go to “Find Events,” enter “Lanesboro,” then “search.”)

COVID precautions and protocols require masks for all audience members and socially-distanced seating. The theater will be limited to half capacity. For more information, Kari Berg can be reached at (507) 421-9047.