Broadway: The Drowsy Chaperone, November 2006
Philip on Jan 10 2007
The Drowsy Chaperone gives what a number of people would like to get from musical theatre, it gives them an escape. It’s not your Les Mis, Sweeney Todd or Grey Gardens type of show with drama and thought provoking stories, it’s just an evening of escapist fun and I’ve not laughed so much in a show in quite a long time. Pure farce and slapstick comedy done very well through a very simple story.
The premiss is quite simple, there is this ‘Man in the Chair’ who opens the show talking about theatre. He mentions his likes and dislikes which are shared by many of today’s theatre goers. Some of this is done in the dark and then the lights come up on his apartment and he is seated in his chair in the corner of his apartment by his record player. He is a lonely man who loves musical theatre and his favorite show is a fictional 1928 musical called The Drowsy Chaperone. He has played this recording so many times that he knows every element of the show and has decided to share this musical with us. As he puts on the recording the story comes to life in his apartment.
The story within the story is also quite simple. Janet, a beautiful actress, is about to throw away her career in order to marry Robert, a man she fell instantly in love with on a recent boat cruise. Janet is accompanied by her Chaperone, whose job it is to keep the bride and groom from seeing each other on the wedding day. But, this being the Prohibition era, the Chaperone brings her own portable bar with her and indulges at every whim — thus leading to the “drowsy” description. There is a movie studio boss who wants to stop the marriage so that he would not lose his big star and there are two gangsters, disguised as pastry chefs, who are also there to ensure that the marriage does not happen because their boss is a major backer in the movie studio and he also does not want to lose this actress as it would mean a loss for his investment. One of the highlight performances comes from the character Aldolpho, a rather buffoonish, self-proclaimed ladies man who is sent by the studio boss to seduce Janet and therefore break up the marriage. This character is probably the funniest in our story-within-the-story and the actor playing this role delivers a brilliant portrayal which has the entire audience rolling with laughter.
Bob Martin, the coauthor of this work and the person who plays ‘The Man in the Chair’ has great timing and effortlessly brings us into his lonely life to experience the thing that makes him most happy. His delivery is spot-on and, with the cast, delivers some brilliant moments such as the time the record skips or (during one of my favorite moments in the show) when he starts off the second act by putting on the record and immediately leaves to go to the bathroom only to realize, upon his return, that he has put on the wrong recording so, during his absence, the audience is treated to a brilliant take-off on a ‘King and I’ type musical.
The Drowsy Chaperone was a great way to spend 90 minutes in the theatre (no intermission – The Man in the Chair does not like them) and we had a blast watching this musical. For pure escapist fun, this is the show to see.
