| The Drowsy Chaperone | |
|---|---|
Broadway production windowcard |
|
| Music | Lisa Lambert Greg Morrison |
| Lyrics | Lisa Lambert Greg Morrison |
| Book | Bob Martin Don McKellar |
| Productions | 1998 Toronto-The Rivoli 1999 Toronto-Toronto Fringe Festival 1999 Toronto-Theatre Passe Muraille 2001 Toronto-Winter Garden 2006 Broadway 2007 West End 2008 Broadway Tour 2009 Japan 2009 National Tour 2010 Melbourne-Melbourne Theatre Company |
| Awards | Tony Award for Best Score Tony Award for Best Book Drama Desk Outstanding Musical Drama Desk Outstanding Music Drama Desk Outstanding Lyrics Drama Desk Outstanding Book |
The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto and opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. It started as a spoof of old musicals written by friends for the wedding of Martin and his wife, Janet. The show has had major productions in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, London, and Japan, as well as two North American tours.
Contents |
The Drowsy Chaperone is an homage to American musicals of the Jazz Age, examining the effect musicals have on the fans who adore them
The Man in Chair, a mousy, agoraphobic Broadway fanatic, seeking to cure his "non-specific sadness", listens to a recording of a fictional 1928 musical comedy, The Drowsy Chaperone. As he listens to this rare recording, he is transported into the musical. The characters appear in his dingy apartment, and it is transformed into an impressive Broadway set with seashell footlights, sparkling furniture, painted backdrops, and glitzy costumes.
The plot of the show-within-a-show centers on Janet Van De Graaff, a showgirl who plans to give up her career in order to marry an oil tycoon, Robert Martin. However, Janet is the star of "Feldzieg's Follies", and a lot of money is riding on her name to sell the show; and Feldzieg, her producer, is being threatened with bodily harm by two gangsters employed by his chief investor (a reference to the gangsters-turned-actors in Kiss Me, Kate). Disguised as pastry chefs, these two pun-happy thugs threaten Feldzieg to stop the wedding, in order to ensure Janet's participation in the next production of Feldzieg's Follies. In order to save himself, Feldzieg enlists Aldolpho, a bumbling Latin Lothario, to seduce Janet and spoil her relationship with Robert. Meanwhile, Janet is having doubts about her groom. Disguising herself as a French woman, she tempts Robert into kissing her, and a massive misunderstanding emerges. The ensuing plot incorporates mistaken identities, dream sequences, spit takes, a deus ex machina, an unflappable English butler, an absent-minded dowager, a ditzy chorine, a harried best man, and Janet's "Drowsy" (i.e. "tipsy") Chaperone, played in the show-within-a-show by a blowzy Grande Dame of the Stage, specializing in "rousing anthems" and not above upstaging the occasional co-star.
Watching from his seat, Man in Chair is torn between his desire to absorb every moment of the show as it unfolds and his need to insert his personal footnotes and his extensive-but-trivial knowledge of musical performances and actors, as he frequently brings the audience in and out of the fantasy. As the show goes on, more of his personal life is revealed through his musings about the show, until, as the record ends, he is left again alone in his apartment — but still with his record of a long-beloved show to turn to whenever he's blue.
The concept that the audience is listening to the musical on an old LP is used throughout the show. At one point, the record "skips", which causes the last notes (and dance steps) of a song to be repeated until the Man in Chair can bump the turntable. A "power outage" near the end causes the stage to go dark in the middle of the big production number. Despite the show-within-the-show being a two act musical, The Drowsy Chaperone is played without an intermission; at the end of the "show"'s first act, the Man in Chair observes that there would be an intermission "if we were sitting in the Morosco Theatre, watching The Drowsy Chaperone. Which we're not." His monologue at the musical's intermission point ends when he changes records (ostensibly preparing the turntable to play the musical's second act), then leaves the stage "to use the bathroom". The new record is actually the second act of a different musical by the same composer and librettist, starring many of the same actors. Message from a Nightingale is performed in costumes evoking Imperial China, with the performers displaying cliched Chinese accents and mannerisms. The Man in Chair returns to the stage and replaces the disc with the correct one for Act II of The Drowsy Chaperone.
The Drowsy Chaperone started in 1997, when McKellar, Lambert, Morrison and several friends created a spoof of old musicals for the stag party of Bob Martin and Janet Van De Graaff. In its first incarnation, there was no Man in Chair, the musical styles ranged from the 1920s to the 1940s, and the jokes were more risqué. When the show was reshaped for the Toronto Fringe Festival, Martin became a co-writer, creating Man in Chair to serve as a narrator/commentator for the piece.[1]
Following the Fringe staging, Toronto commercial theatre producer David Mirvish financed an expanded production at Toronto's 160-seat, non-profit Theatre Passe Muraille in 1999. Box office success and favourable notices led Mirvish in 2001 to finance further development and produce a full-scale version at Toronto's 1000-seat Winter Garden Theatre. During that production, Linda Intaschi, Associate Producer of Mirvish Productions, invited New York producer Roy Miller to see the musical. Miller saw potential in the show and he optioned the rights.
With Canadian actor and fund-raiser Paul Mack, Miller produced a reading for the New York's National Alliance for Musical Theatre on 5 October 2004[2][3] – and invited Broadway producer Kevin McCollum. The reading captured McCollum's interest and eventually resulted in Miller, McCollum and Bob Boyett, Stephanie McClelland, Barbara Freitag and Jill Furman committing to producing the play. An out-of-town engagement followed at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles (2005), and after alterations, The Drowsy Chaperone opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006.
The Broadway production opened in May 2006 at the Marquis Theatre, and closed on 30 December 2007 after 674 performances and 32 previews. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw the original Broadway cast included Bob Martin, Sutton Foster, Georgia Engel, Edward Hibbert, Beth Leavel, Jason Kravits, Garth Kravits, Eddie Korbich, and Danny Burstein.
The Broadway team staged the West End production. Previews started on 14 May 2007, first night was on 6 June, but it closed on 4 August after fewer than 100 performances. A largely British cast, including Elaine Paige – making her return to the West End after six years – John Partridge and Summer Strallen joined the show’s co-author Bob Martin recreating his Broadway role of "Man in Chair." The Novello Theatre’s owner Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who had seen the show in previews in New York had supported its transatlantic transfer.[4] London's critics were generally optimistic about the show,[5] although some had been less impressed.[6][7] Even an early drastic reduction in the cost of premium seating for the show failed to generate sufficient enthusiasm for the production, and the producers closed it in August instead of the scheduled February 2008 date.[8][9] London's The Stage commented "… shows in London can run safely … at lower capacities than they require on Broadway.… But, as the transfer of The Drowsy Chaperone has just proved, sometimes even a Tony-winning Broadway hit can’t even achieve that."[10]
The musical received 2008 Olivier Award nominations for Best New Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Summer Strallen), Best Actor in a Musical (Bob Martin), Best Theatre Choreographer (Casey Nicholaw), and Best Costume Design (Gregg Barnes).[11]
A national tour of The Drowsy Chaperone opened 19 September 2007 in Toronto at the Elgin Theatre. Among the performers were original Broadway cast members Bob Martin and Georgia Engel (Man in Chair and Mrs. Tottendale). While Engel performed with the company for the extended engagement, Martin did not continue beyond Toronto; his role was taken over by Jonathan Crombie. Nancy Opel played the role of "The Drowsy Chaperone". The Drowsy Chaperone played more than 30 cities in the United States, including Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre, where the show ran before going to Broadway.[12]
The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company produced an independent production directed by Max Reimer, choreographed by Dayna Tekatch in Vancouver, British Columbia of The Drowsy Chaperone which opened 27 November 2008 and ran until 27 December 2008. In July 2009 The Thousand Islands Playhouse mounted another independent production, directed by Kathryn Mackay, choreographed by Dayna Tekatch, with musical direction by Sandy Thorburn.
In co-production with Canada's National Arts Centre English Theatre, the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company's production of The Drowsy Chaperone directed by Max Reimer played on the Shoctor stage of the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta, opening on 5 September and closing on 4 October (2009) and thereafter played at the National Arts Centre though 1 November 2009.
On January 7, 2010 the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg opened its co-production with Theatre Calgary, with Calgary dates set for the following season.
The first translated production of the musical opened in Japan on 5 January 2009.[13]
The Australian production, staged by the Melbourne Theatre Company, opened for a limited engagement in Melbourne on 21 January 2010. Prominent Australian actor Geoffrey Rush played Man in Chair.[14][15] The production was announced to run through 20 February, but due to impressively high demand for tickets when they were first made available, the producers arranged for it to continue through 27 February.[16]
Ovation Productions and Alex Segal presented a fringe production Upstairs at the Gatehouse directed by Racky Plews, musical supervisor Michael England, choreographed by Fabian Aloise, casting by Ellie Collyer-Bristow. September 23 - October 31, 2010.[17]
The show is licensed by Music Theatre International in the USA (these rights were released March 2010), but the show is available to amateur and professional theatre in the UK via Josef Weinberger.
In 2011, a production of The Drowsy Chaperone was done at The Coronado Playhouse in Coronado, California as part of their 65th season. The show ran from October 28 through December 4 and received rave reviews. The production was directed by Thomas Fitzpatrick. The cast included Jim Williams as Man in Chair, Tiffany Loui as Janet, Debbie David as The Drowsy Chaperone, William Henry as Robert, Nick Williams as Best Friend George, Danny Ingersoll as Aldolpho, Michael Van Allen as Feldzig, Jennie Gray Connard as Kitty, Alan Aguilar & Kyle Young as the Gangsters, Dianne Smith Gray as Mrs. Tottendale, Steven Jensen as Underling and Jessica Brandon as Trix.
A one-disc compact disc set by the original Broadway cast was released in 2006.[18] Although it contained mostly only the musical numbers, it also contained enough of the Man in the Chair's narrative to provide a taste of his role. On Valentine's Day 2007, a limited edition 1,000 pressing vinyl record version was released, available only on the Ghostlight Records website and in the lobby of the Marquis Theater. This edition, which included only the musical numbers, along with extra specially recorded dialogue, was meant to re-create the album listened to by the Man in Chair.
The original cast recording contains two bonus tracks titled, "I Remember Love," which is a duet between Mrs. Tottendale and Underling, and "Message From A Nightingale", which is the unabridged version of a portion of a song that is cut short in the show. "I Remember Love" also contains a ukelele solo by Ukelele Lil as Mrs. Tottendale. It was replaced by "Love is Always Lovely in the End."
| Character | Original Cast | Original Broadway Cast | Original London Cast | Original Australian Cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man In Chair | Bob Martin | Geoffrey Rush | ||
| The Drowsy Chaperone | Lisa Lambert | Beth Leavel | Elaine Paige | Rhonda Burchmore |
| Janet van de Graaff | Jenn Robertson | Sutton Foster | Summer Strallen | Christie Whelan |
| Robert Martin | John Mitchell | Troy Britton Johnson | John Partridge | Alex Rathgeber |
| George | Steve Morell | Eddie Korbich | Sean Kingsley | Rohan Browne |
| Aldolpho | Don McKellar | Danny Burstein | Joseph Alessi | Adam Murphy |
| Mrs. Tottendale | Teresa Pavlinek | Georgia Engel | Anne Rogers | Robyn Nevin |
| Underling | Scott Anderson | Edward Hibbert | Nickolas Grace | Richard Piper |
| Feldzieg | Matt Watts | Lenny Wolpe | Nick Holder | Shane Jacobson |
| Kitty | Jennifer Irwin | Jennifer Smith | Selina Chilton | Heidi Arena |
| Trix | Jennifer Whalen | Kecia Lewis-Evans | Enyonam Gbesemete | Zahra Newman |
| Gangster 1 | Jack Mosshammer | Jason Kravits | Adam Stafford | Karlis Zaid |
| Gangster 2 | Doug Morency | Garth Kravits | Cameron Jack | Grant Piro |
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Canadian Comedy Award | Pretty Funny Comedic Play | Won | |
| Dora Mavor Moore Award | Outstanding Costume Design | Christopher Richards | Nominated | |
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best New Musical | Nominated | |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Bob Martin | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress in a Musical | Summer Strallen | Nominated | ||
| Best Theatre Choreographer | Casey Nicholaw | Nominated | ||
| Best Costume Design | Gregg Barnes | Nominated | ||
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Offie Award | Best Director | Racky Plews | Nominated |
| WhatsOnStage.com Award | Best Off-West End Production | Nominated | ||
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