”
The Drowsy Chaperone
”
is the silliest bit of froth that ever appeared on a stage. That
being said, it is entertaining and if you really have to get away
from it all and you have a hybrid or an auto that goes easy on the
gas
– or better still take the train or BART – this might be your
cup of tea.
“The Drowsy Chaperone” is the silliest bit of froth that ever appeared on a stage. That being said, it is entertaining and if you really have to get away from it all and you have a hybrid or an auto that goes easy on the gas – or better still take the train or BART – this might be your cup of tea.
The show takes you back to 1928, to the early days of the Broadway Musical, when producers could put their girlfriends in the show and gangsters were backers (in this plot anyway). It’s a mad romp with production numbers done at the drop of a hat for any obvious or non-obvious reason. The old boy gets girl, boy loses girl and boy gets girl back plot is in full swing with an over-the-top corny finale to end all over-the-top corny finales.
The show stealers are David Gallo’s creative sets and Ken Billington and Brian Monahan’s lighting. They turn a dingy apartment into upper estate scenes before your eyes. An old refrigerator becomes a grand entrance, a beat up Murphy bed becomes a different grand pillow tufted bed each time it comes down from the wall.
The cast is energetic and delivers a good performance without the edge that is needed to give the audience the edge. (Perhaps touring a little too long.)
Andrea Chamberlain’s as Janet Van De Graaff’s “Show Off” number is a doozy and gets the audience alert for a while. Mark Ledbetter as the roller-skating bridegroom (sometimes in tap shoes) does the best he can do with the material he is given. Nancy Opel’s boozy chaperon was tired. Jonathan Crombie as the “man in the chair” was endearing and charming. The rest of the cast give their all in delightful Gregg Barnes costumes.
Director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw keeps the production moving most of the time and has everyone on stage having such a good time you barely notice the lulls.
This production is a frothy bit of fluff that needs more animation and energy to really pull it off. As I have always said, “It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.”
Camille Bounds is the arts and entertainment editor for the Western Division of Sunrise Publications.
