![]() ![]() His "Man in Chair" is an everyman (OK, not quite everyman), someone who enjoys and is cheered up by the musical because it's unpretentious and ridiculous and just plain fun. The inclusion of some of his monologues in the cast recording is essential to understanding the complete show. Bob Martin, the only character in the non-musical comedy that surrounds the musical, is one of the show's authors. Georgia Engel, best known for her TV roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Everybody Loves Raymond, makes an exceptional and sweetly confused, older, rich widow. The actors all have fun with the music and their characters, not trying to outdo each other and not trying to make their characterizations too absurd. The pit orchestra doesn't include any strings, which adds to the old-fashioned feel of it. The Drowsy Chaperone begins when a die-hard musical-theatre fan plays his favorite cast album, and the musical magically bursts to life We are instantly immersed in the hilarious tale of. "Toledo Surprise," sung by gangsters disguised as caterers, has the rhythm of a Charleston. The songs also make use of dance rhythms, such as the tango and two-step. "I Remember Love" and "I Do I Do in the Sky" are prime examples of the story's silliness. It's the straightman for the absurd characters' lyrics. The music is not at all sophisticated, but tuneful and animated, in the vein of Nacio Herb Brown. The characters include a dotty dowager, a big-time producer, a Latin playboy, and an aviatrix, among others. They are homages to the carefree stage and movie musicals of the 1910s-1930s. Directed by: Casey Nicholaw Cast: Danny Burstein, Georgia Engel, Sutton Foster, Edward Hibbert, Troy Britton Johnson, Eddie Korbich, Garth Kravits, Jason Kravits, Beth Leavel, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Bob Martin, Jennifer Smith, Lenny Wolpe, Linda Griffin, Angela Pupello, Joey Sorge and Patrick Wetzel. However, the music and most of the ideas in The Drowsy Chaperone - the musical within the comedy, as it's called - are not exactly original. Like the previous year's 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Drowsy Chaperone is a "little musical that could." While not being a large-scale hit, it managed to win numerous awards, including five Tonys, and praise for being completely original at a time when almost all new musicals are based on previously published books, music, or movies. ![]()
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