MUSICAL MAYHEM: MY TOP TWENTY-FIVE MUSICALS – Part 11 - THE TOP TEN – #8

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