MUSICAL MAYHEM: MY TOP TWENTY-FIVE MUSICALS – Part 11
THE TOP TEN – #8
It's time to reveal the musical holding
the #8 spot in my Top Ten. A joyous paean to anyone who has ever loved a
musical, this is your show!
# 8: THE DROWSY
CHAPERONE – Book by Bob Martin and Don
McKellar; Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
This unassuming, absolutely charming import from Canada (yet another
reason to love Canada!) certainly grew from a kick-ass engagement party
entertainment to a Tony-winning musical, but despite all the bells and whistles
it acquired along the way, this show never lost its heart, its sincerity, its
humanity, and, yes, its decency. The
Drowsy Chaperone is a celebration of the power that theatre in general and musicals
in particular have to lift our spirits, soothe our souls, and enrich our lives.
From the first lines told in the extended blackout that begins the show to the
final triumphant moments when our host and narrator, the Man in Chair,
gloriously interacts with the cast of the show he's introduced us to, the
fictional 1928 musical comedy, The Drowsy
Chaperone, we in the audience leave our troubles behind and become a
willing participant in the Man in Chair's journey. The plot of the musical
within the musical is 1920s-era nonsense, but delicious nonsense. The surprise
in the show may be that, as you discover more and more about the timid,
agoraphobic Broadway musical superfan who acts as our guide, you find yourself
caring deeply about him. So it's not just fluff; it's fluff with a heart and
soul. It's a joy. The concept of a cast album, and, yes, I mean album in the LP
sense, coming to life while the Man in Chair regales us with interesting facts
and gossip is refreshing and inventive. The book is silly most of the time, but
has an almost subversive depth when it needs to. The score is marvel of
pastiche and great tunes. At the 2006 Tony Awards, it won five Tonys, including
the coveted ones for Best Book and Best Score, but lost out on Best Musical to
the jukebox sensation, Jersey Boys.
It played for 674 performances and made its money back. It had a successful
Equity tour, and now is a popular show among amateur/community theatre groups. I'm
smiling now just thinking about it. Go ahead, play the cast recording now. I'll
wait. … I know, I know. It's fabulous, isn't it? A perfect show for these tense
times.
June, 2006. Fresh from winning five Tony Awards two weeks earlier, the
capacity audience at the Marquis Theatre embraced this show with love,
laughter, and applause from the moment the house lights went down. And with
good reason. David Gallo's clever, stylish and inventive scenic design, Gregg
Barnes' fabulous costumes, and Ken Billington and Brian Monahan's spot-on
lighting gave the show its atmosphere. A fine pit orchestra under the direction
of Phil Reno brought the infectious score by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison to
joyous life. Casey Nicholaw's direction and choreography was subdued when it
needed to be, flashy when it needed to be, and gave the show its sass. But it
was the extraordinary company of actors assembled on the stage of the Marquis
Theatre who gave the show its heart. From Bob Martin's instantly endearing Man
in Chair to the talented ensemble, this was as perfect a cast as any show could
possibly want. Playing Bob Martin and Don McKellar's book with a just-right
wink and a just-right amount of over-the-top, this was a joy to watch. Troy
Britton Johnson as Robert Martin was a fitting 20s-matinee-idol, with Eddie
Korbich as his stalwart best man. Lenny Wolfe was properly frazzled as a
Mob-harassed producer, with a wonderfully spacey Jennifer Smith as his ditzy
girlfriend. Jason and Garth Kravits played the dancing gangsters with
delightful aplomb. Kecia Lewis-Evans made the most out of her role as Trix, the
Aviatrix, Queen of the Skies. Danny Burstein's singular performance as Aldolpho was a master class in this-close-to-over-the-top
acting and just plain adorable silliness. Georgia Engel's Mrs. Tottendale may
have been a retread of her character of Georgette from television's The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but it didn't
matter because her smile and eagerness to please rendered any criticism rather
pointless, and partnered with the comic timing genius of Edward Hibbert as
Underling (don't you love the
character name?), this duo very nearly ran away with the show. And what can I
say about Bob Martin's Man in Chair? I felt as though he were my BFF and we
were having a wonderful afternoon listening to cast albums in his apartment. He
made the large Marquis Theatre intimate and the audience simply fell in love
with him. Sutton Foster. Need I say anything? Is there anything she can't do? As Janet van de Graaf, she was
simply amazing. Her performance of "Show Off" was worth the price of
admission. She radiated charm and star quality. With all the talent on display,
however, it was Beth Leavel's Tony-winning performance as The Drowsy Chaperone
that shined brightest. Scenery-chewers, take notes from this woman. She is the
master. And yet, not a note, not a gesture out of place. Her "As We
Stumble Along," which happens to be among my very favorite show tunes,
demonstrated with ease how to stop a show while not breaking a sweat. The
audience started whooping and hollering as she held her penultimate note,
paused for second, and then basically screamed as she brought the song to a
close. We couldn't get enough of her. Or the show. Delightful and everything a
musical comedy should be. – at the Marquis Theatre, New York.
December, 2006; February, 2007. Although it's not especially unusual for
us to see a show more than once, lately it is
unusual for us to pay full price to see a show on a return visit, notable
exceptions being Next to Normal and Follies. Not surprisingly, Bob loved the
show as much as I did and he suggested the return visit in February. Good
choice. At the February performance, Andrea Chamberlain was filling in for
Sutton Foster, and she was smashing. All the rest of the original cast
principals were there to wow us. Bob especially liked Beth Leavel (duh!), Bob
Martin, and Danny Burstein. Great times at the theatre. – at the Marquis
Theatre, New York.
Bob and Beth Leavel
Jeff and Danny Burstein
Jeff and Bob Martin
Sutton was so thrilled we stopped by!
The Two Bobs....Estrin and Martin
Six Degrees of Separation Tidbit: Bob Martin
(Man in Chair) is married to Janet van de Graaf. Janet van de Graaf is the name
of the character originally played by Sutton Foster in The Drowsy Chaperone and Robert Martin is the name of the character
that the musical's Janet van de Graaf marries. Here's the six degrees part:
Janet van de Graaf went to New Trier High School. Bob retired from teaching
theatre at New Trier High School. It's unclear whether or not their paths
crossed, but this prompted some lively chat at the stage door between my Bob
and Bob Martin.
April, 2008. Bob and I adore this show and were delighted that it was
just as wonderful on tour as it was in NYC.
The late Jonathan Crombie was amazing as the Man in Chair. There was a
very touching vulnerability about him, an open sweetness that just drew the
audience in. He made the part his own, and with all respect and admiration for
the wonderful Bob Martin, I preferred his interpretation. Georgia Engel was on
hand to the delight of the audience with her daffy portrayal of Mrs.
Tottendale. Nancy Opel was a very competent Chaperone, but I didn't feel she
nailed the part. Where with Beth Leavel, it just seemed effortless, with Opel,
it was almost as if she didn't quite trust the role. Her "As We Stumble
Along" was still fun, but not a show-stopper. Andrea Chamberlain, as Janet van de Graaf, truly
stopped the show with "Show Off."
In the year since we saw her cover for Sutton Foster in New York, she had grown in the part to make it a star-making turn. What fun! – at the Cadillac Palace
Theatre, Chicago
Sidebar: Jonathan Crombie's one Broadway
appearance was as a replacement for Bob Martin in the original New York company
of The Drowsy Chaperone, a role he
would perform for most of the national tour. He would tragically die in 2015 of
a brain hemmorrage at the very young age of 48.
May, 2010. The critics liked this version. I wanted to, I really wanted
to, but, despite the best efforts of Paula Scrofano (Mrs. Tottendale), Gene
Weygandt (Underling), Adam Pelty (Aldolpho), and an effective, if not entirely
successful James Harms as Man in Chair, this production felt flat, a bit
listless, and a lot forced. Linda Balgord as The Drowsy Chaperone ("And
LINDA BALGORD as The Drowsy Chaperone" per the program) seemed miscast.
Now Ms. Balgord has some serious credits, but here she just was uninteresting
and, well, disappointing. Marc Robin's in-the-round staging didn't serve
the show especially well, and without a dynamic cast, (it was a competent cast,
but not a terribly dynamic one) all the production bells and whistles of the
New York and touring productions were greatly missed. For whatever reason, the
folks at Marriott Theatre decided to put an intermission into this
intermissionless show. This was a very, very
bad decision because it totally killed the show's momentum, and the show
never regained it in the second act. I'm sure this was to accommodate the
senior citizen demographic of the Lincolnshire venue, but c'mon, people. The
show's only 100 minutes long. You can't sit for 100 minutes without peeing? The
folks at the Marquis in New York and the Cadillac Palace in Chicago didn't seem
to have a problem with the length. I'm sure they had to get approval for this,
but, sorry, the intermission really ruined the show. I wasn't overly
enthusiastic during Act One; I was pretty much totally disinterested in Act
Two. I expected a better production from Marriott. – at the Marriott Theatre,
Lincolnshire.
And so ends another installment. See you soon!
©
2016 Jeffrey Geddes
