The Drowsy Chaperone
“Hello. How are we today? A little quiet? I’m feeling a little blue myself. You know, a little anxious for no particular reason, a little sad that I should feel anxious at this age, you know, a little self-conscious anxiety resulting in non-specific sadness: a state that I call ‘blue.’ Anyway, whenever I’m feeling this way, blue, I like to listen to my music."
Those are among the first words you’ll hear at Repertory Company Theatre’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone. Those words from the central character, called Man in Chair but otherwise unnamed, will come floating to you across a darkened theater before the lights even come up. The Man in Chair represents all who’ve ever sat in the dark alone, feeling blue, and longing to escape, at least for a time, to another world. Generously, he invites us along as he makes his escape to another world by listening to the cast album from one of his favorite musicals, The Drowsy Chaperone, which is a fictional show of the same title within this show.
Jordan Tomenga’s Man in Chair is truly troubled, and his desperation is evident as he lovingly and gingerly handles the record he’s going to play for us, our transport to another world. For, as the Man in Chair sets the needle on the long-playing record of this fictional 1928 musical, this story of mix-ups and mayhem comes to life in his apartment. Kylea Ingram’s loopily looney Mrs. Tottendale is a wealthy widow wandering ‘round her palatial country home, wondering why she’s wearing fancy dress. Thankfully, Underling, her aptly named butler, played by a properly put-upon Phillip Slay, is there to gently remind his mistress that there’s to be a wedding there this weekend. Ingram and Slay’s comic chemistry is as strong as the bond between two hydrogen and one oxygen atom, and their fluid fun ultimately drowns us in delight, when they later mix up a batch of naughty prohibition cocktails. Immediately, bursting onto the scene, and into the Man in Chair’s apartment where the action takes place, are all the weekend’s guests in the rousing opening number, “Fancy Dress”.
Hunter Hall’s handsomely toothsome and overly earnest groom, rich financier Robert Martin, is the perfect embodiment of the charmingly clueless leading man that was de rigueur for 1920’s musicals. But wait, does our hero have “Cold Feet?!?!?” Yes, so it seems, but in a fantastic song and dance number with his eager best man, George, (Jared Duncan) through the terpsichore of tap, those cold feets turn blisteringly hot. Hall and Duncan are two tenors on a terrific tear as they tap and harmonize. A showstopper!
Matching Hall’s Martin is Kirsten Simmons’ Broadway Baby, Janet Van de Graaf, who has announced her intention to leave show business and become a simple hausfrau. Hall and Simmons are sweetly paired in the duet “Accident Waiting to Happen”. Simmons’ amazes during her big Act One number, “Show Off”, which puts the lie to her protests that she’s 100% committed to walking out of the spotlight for married bliss. Simmons’ Janet has definite star power!
So, it’s convincing that losing Janet could be a big problem for producer Mr. Fedzieg, played with all the charm of a snake oil salesman by a cigar chomping Nelson Wilson. Indeed, apparently there’s mob money in Feldzieg’s show, as two goofy gangsters in the guise of pastry chefs are there for the weekend to make sure Feldzieg derails the wedding and keeps his star, Janet, in the show. Billed as Gangster #1 and Gangster #2 respectively, Alvaro Carranza and Jarrod McRae, give voice to their threats in the mangled patois of mob men. Their synchronized movements and comic timing enthrall throughout! Carranza, along with Caitlin Rodda, (Ensemble), served as a Dance Captain, helping the entire cast fulfill the full promise of Director/Choreographer Michelle Levall’s choreography in a dozen numbers. Meanwhile, Loree Westbrooks’ squeaky voiced Kitty, a cluelessly cute chorine, assures Feldzieg that she could replace Janet and be his next big star. Carranza, McRae, Wilson, and Westbrooks are joined by Mrs. Tottendale and the Company as Feldzieg tries to sidetrack the gangsters as they all hilariously explain the “Toledo Surprise”.
Completing the guests at the wedding are the bride’s erstwhile Drowsy Chaperone, Laura Alley, and Jack Agnew’s buffoonish Latin lover, Aldolpho. Alley’s Chaperone is larger than lush life, a bawdy and bodacious one time “It Girl”, who perhaps has not yet realized that the wild party’s over. Her Act One anthem, “As We Stumble Along”, is bold, brassy, over-the-top, and plaintive plea from one who hasn’t chosen to leave a disappointing life bereft of romance but, with a high-ball’s help, still lives it by stumbling, bumbling, fumbling, perhaps even “plumbling” through. Alley and Agnew shine together in a comic scene of seduction and Agnew’s romp “I Am Aldolpho”. There’s also a completely ridiculous scene at the top of Act Two where Carranza, McRae, and Westbrooks, along with Alley and Agnew, all get to show their musical comedy chops in a scene that serves no purpose other than to entertain (more on that purpose later …).
Alley has also done a fantastic job with the entire cast as the Music Director and the entire Company wows in big numbers like “Fancy Dress”, “Toledo Surprise”, “Bride’s Lament”, “I Do, I Do In The Sky”, and “As We Stumble Along (Reprise)”. Finally, it’s the big, beautiful voice of Alisha Fowler Borton’s Trix The Aviatrix that soars over the Company in “I Do, I Do In The Sky. We’re teased with an oh, too brief glimpse of Borton in the show opener “Fancy Dress” but she owns this climatic show closer.
Michael Christian, who as Stage Manager has done a fine job with this show, appears briefly as the Superintendent of the Man in Chair’s building. His visit spurs Tomenga’s Man in Chair to open up a little more fully to us about his life and love. Tomenga is moving, and you feel the desperate need, as he explains that The Drowsy Chaperone “… does what a musical is supposed to do: it takes you to another world, and it gives you a tune to carry with you in your head when you’re feeling blue…". So, that’s the purpose of musicals!! Certainly, RTC’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone, as directed by Michelle Levall, does exactly that as it rises, lifting you up and turning blues into blue skies.
Audience Rating: PG-13 for adult situations and language.
Running Time: Approximately two hours with one 15-minute intermission.
Accessible seating: Available
Hearing Devices Available: Not Available
Sensory Friendly Showing: Not Available
Production Sound Level: Comfortable Volume
Noises and Visuals to Know About: None
See you at the theater!
David
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