Frantic and on the run from the police, Tito is even more confused when other characters in the play show up to congratulate him on his "magnificent performance" as Othello.

Also, Tito and Max both find themselves being romantically pursued by Maggie Saunders, and by Diana, the Cleveland Opera's sexy and ambitious soprano.

Maria returns to the hotel and makes up with the bewildered Tito, while Max manages to step into the bathroom long enough to change out of his Othello costume and wig, and emerge as himself.

The play, originally titled Opera Buffa, had been produced at a summer theater, American Stage Festival, Milford, NH, in 1985.

[2] The West End production opened on March 6, 1986 at the Globe Theatre, where it ran for ten months, closing on January 10, 1987.

The cast featured Ron Holgate (Tito), Anna Nicholas (Maria), Edward Hibbert (Bellhop), Denis Lawson (Max), Jan Francis (Maggie), John Barron (Saunders), Gwendolyn Humble (Diana), and Josephine Blake (Julia).

[3][4] After sixteen previews, the Broadway production, directed by Jerry Zaks, opened on March 2, 1989 at the Royale Theatre, and closed on April 22, 1990 after 476 performances.

The cast included Philip Bosco (Saunders), Victor Garber (Max), Ron Holgate (Tito), Tovah Feldshuh (Maria), Caroline Lagerfelt (Diana), Jane Connell (Julia), J. Smith-Cameron (Maggie) and Jeff Brooks (Bellhop).

[5][6] A Broadway revival began performances at the Music Box Theatre on March 13, 2010 in preview and officially opened on April 4, 2010.

Directed by Stanley Tucci, the cast starred Anthony LaPaglia (Tito Merelli), Jay Klaitz (Frank the Bellhop), Justin Bartha (Max), Jan Maxwell (Maria), Mary Catherine Garrison (Maggie), Jennifer Laura Thompson (Diana), and husband and wife couple Tony Shalhoub (Saunders) and Brooke Adams (Julia).

The musical version, with book and lyrics by Peter Sham and Music by Brad Carroll opened at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, on September 24 and ran until October 6, 2010, after which it transferred to the Gielgud Theatre on London's West End on June 15, 2011 and closed on August 6, 2011, despite mostly rave reviews but two months of poor ticket sales.

It is important to note that the musical was the first to replace the use of Otello with the opera Pagliacci, which effectively removes the play's questionable elements.

[9] The musical opened in London's West End in June 2011, directed by Ian Talbot and choreographed by Randy Skinner.

[10] In 2022, Ludwig adapted a gender-swapped version of the play entitled Lend Me a Soprano which will run at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas from September 16 until October 9.

[11] In 2019 the official licensed performance script was revised by Ken Ludwig, removing all references to Otello and replacing them with Pagliacci.