The Drowsy Chaperone

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Original Broadway Production
The Drowsy Chaperone
Original Broadway Production Poster
Music	Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
Lyrics	Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
Book	Bob Martin and Don McKellar
Theatre	Marquis Theatre
Opened	May 1, 2006
Closed	Still Running
Producer(s)	Kevin McCollum Roy Miller Boyett Ostar Productions Stephanie McClelland Barbara Freitag Jill Furman
Director	Casey Nicholaw
Choreographer	Casey Nicholaw
Scenic designer	David Gallo
Costume designer	Greg Barnes
Lighting designer	Ken Billington
Originally starring	Sutton Foster, Beth Leavel, Bob Martin, Georgia Engel, Edward Hibbert, Troy Britton Johnson, Danny Burstein
Official website
IBDB profile

The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morisson and book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar.

The play is an homage to American musicals of the 1920s.

1 Original Broadway Cast
2 Musical Numbers
3 Awards and nominations
- 3.1 Tony Awards
- 3.2 Other
4 Characters
5 Plot Synopsis
6 Significance to Canadian theatre
7 Production history
8 External Links

[edit] Original Broadway Cast

Danny Burstein as Aldolpho
Georgia Engel as Mrs. Tottendale
Sutton Foster as Janet Van De Graaff
Edward Hibbert as Underling
Troy Britton Johnson as Robert Martin
Eddie Korbich as George
Garth Kravits as Gangster #2
Jason Kravits as Gangster #1
Beth Leavel as The Drowsy Chaperone
Kecia Lewis-Evans as Trix
Bob Martin as Man in Chair
Jennifer Smith as Kitty
Lenny Wolpe as Feldzieg
Linda Griffin- Ensemble
Angela Pupello- Ensemble
Joey Sorge- Ensemble
Patrick Wetzel- Ensemble

[edit] Musical Numbers

"Overture" — Orchestra
"Fancy Dress" — Company
"Cold Feets" — Robert, George
"Show Off" — Janet, Ensemble
"As We Stumble Along" — Drowsy Chaperone
"I Am Aldolpho" — Adolpho, Drowsy Chaperone
"Accident Waiting to Happen" — Robert, Janet
"Toledo Surprise" — Gangsters, Kitty, Company
"Message from a Nightingale" — Kitty, Gangsters, Aldolpho, Drowsy Chaperone
"Bride's Lament" — Janet, Ensemble
"Love is Always Lovely" — Mrs. Tottendale, Underling
"I Do, I Do in the Sky" — Trix and Company
"As We Stumble Along" (reprise) — Company

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Tony Awards

Best Book of a Musical--Bob Martin, Don McKellar
Best Original Score--Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
Best Featured Actress in a Musical--Beth Leavel
Best Scenic Design of a Musical--David Gallo
Best Costume Design of a Musical--Gregg Barnes

Tony Nominations

Best Musical
Best Actor in a Musical--Bob Martin
Best Actress in a Musical--Sutton Foster
Best Featured Actor in a Musical--Danny Burstein
Best Choreography--Casey Nicholaw
Best Direction of a Musical--Casey Nicholaw
Best Orchestrations--Larry Blank
Best Lighting Design of a Musical--Ken Billington and Brian Monahan

[edit] Other

The play was nominated for eight and won five Drama Critics Circle Awards. The wins were for Production, Direction (Casey Nicholaw), Lead Performance (Bob Martin), Featured Performance (Beth Leavel), and Scenic Design (David Gallo)
It won two 2000 Canadian Comedy Awards, for Pretty Funny Play and Pretty Funny Direction (Steve Morel).
It was nominated for six and won four Outer Critics Circle Awards. Nominations were: Outstanding Broadway Musical and Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Beth Leavel). It won for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Beth Leavel), Outstanding New Score (Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison), Outstanding Set Design (David Gallo), and Outstanding Costume Design (Gregg Barnes)

[edit] Characters

This is a show within a show, so the people who play the characters have backgrounds, which the Man in Chair comments on every so often. Here are some tidbits.

Feldzieg and Kitty= Real-life married couple Jack and Sadie Adler.
The Drowsy Chaperone is written by Gable & Stein
Gangster #1 & #2= Vaudeville duo the Tall Brothers, formerly known as the Vazlotskowitz Brothers.
Robert= A former toothpaste model named Percy Hyman.
Janet= Played by Jane Roberts, famous for her role as the "Oops Girl" in a series of films about a girl who was so pretty she caused men to have accidents, such as driving their cars into trees
Aldolpho = played by Roman Bartelli, the former silent movie idol and world-class alcoholic who drank himself to death and was then partially consumed by his poodles before his body was found.
The Drowsy Chaperone= Beatrice Stockwell in the title role a full fifteen years before she became Dame Beatrice Stockwell. She is jealous of co-star Jane Roberts, and is constantly upstaging her in the number "As We Stumble Along".

Mrs. Tottendale and Underling = former Vaudville performers. She went by "Ukelele Lil".

[edit] Plot Synopsis

In the darkness, we hear a theatregoer's lament, a prayer for the current state of the Musical. The lights come up; we see our narrator, a rather ordinary man, sitting in a chair in his rather ordinary New York apartment. He admits that he is blue and in a state of "nonspecific sadness," so he asks us to escape with him as he plays the LP of his favourite musical: Gable & Stein's The Drowsy Chaperone, with a cast featuring Beatrice Stockwell in the title role a full fifteen years before she became Dame Beatrice Stockwell.

Dropping the needle on his hi-fi, Man In Chair's imagination takes flight as suddenly the recorded Overture surges into a live orchestra. Soon, his apartment transforms itself, becoming the stage of the Morosco Theater in New York, and the musical comes to life around him, with characters emerging from his Murphy bed and refrigerator and sets descending from his ceiling.

On the grounds of her estate, the absent-minded dowager Mrs. Tottendale is to host a wedding. She has even put on her favorite dress, though she can't quite remember why she's wearing it, to the silent exasperation of her trusty butler, Underling. The Guests arrive: the groom, Robert Martin, his harried best man George, the Broadway producer Victor Feldzieg and his dimwitted chorine girlfriend Kitty, two Daymon Runyonesque gangsters disguised as pastry chefs, a Latin lothario and self-proclaimed "King of Romance" called Aldolpho and an aviatrix named Trix who pops in to say hello before promising to return in time for the finale. Finally enters the Bride, Janet van de Graff, the star of "Feldzieg's Follies" who is leaving the stage for love, accompanied by her "drowsy" (tipsy) chaperone, the Man in Chair's favorite character.

With warnings of its "two-dimensional characters" and "well-worn plot," Man In Chair now guides us into the story.

Robert begins the proceedings by toasting his bride, but George, the weight of the wedding on his frazzled shoulders, stops a kiss: the bride mustn't see the groom on her wedding day. George fobs Janet off to her already half-"drowsy" Chaperone.

In the B-Plot, Feldzieg bemoans his fate to Kitty: Janet's getting married is a catastrophy, because without his star, his show will close. The completely untalented Kitty claims she could take the part, but Feldzieg isn't buying. Two "pastry chefs" put the pun-laden screws to Feldzieg to keep Janet in "Feldzieg's Follies," at the behest of its primary investor.

In his room, Robert attempts to tap away his wedding-day jitters, soon joined by George who now needs to find a new minister (Cold Feets). George recommends that the lovestruck groom go roller skating: "That's what I do when I wanna blow off steam!" George then blindfolds Robert before sending him off, lest Robert accidentally set eyes on his fiancée.

The scene is interrupted by Man In Chair's telephone ringing — which he pointedly declines to answer.

The scene shifts poolside, where the glamorous Janet lounges before the press, who pepper her with questions: Won't she regret leaving show business for a man she barely knows? Janet fends off the questions and Feldzieg's begging: she's made up her mind and she doesn't want to (Show Off) anymore. She proceeds to reiterate this while spinning plates, throwing her voice, doing one-handed cartwheels and performing split-second costume changes. She even does an encore.

Desperate to stave off the impending nuptials, Feldzieg seeks an accomplice in self-described king of romance Aldolpho. Goading Aldolpho by alleging that the Groom is slandering him, Feldzieg slyly suggests that he settle the score by seducing the Bride. Aldolpho sets off to exact his revenge.

The scene shifts to the bride's bedroom as Janet and her chaperone discuss marriage Janet expresses her misgivings to the chaperone: is Robert in love with Janet, the girl, or with Janet Van De Graaff, glamorous Broadway star? The chaperone's answer is in the form of a "rousing anthem" (As We Stumble Along). The chaperone, claiming "drowsiness," goes to lie down. Janet then resolves to find her "little monkey", leaving the stage ready for the grand entrance of Aldolpho.

Seeing the chaperone, Aldolpho mistakenly assumes she is the one upon whom he is meant to practice his legendary lovemaking skills. That plan is a bit muddled when the chaperone throws herself into his arms. The scenery-chewing king of romance, however, will not settle down to a seduction until she gets his name right (I Am Aldolpho).

Into the garden, blindfolded and on roller skates, glides a blissfully unaware Robert. Janet follows, disguising herself as "Mimi," a mysterious French girl. She asks him about when he knew she was in love with Janet. Caught up in the memory of when he literally fell for her, which he recounts to the mysterious French Girl (Accident Waiting to Happen), the two share a kiss before Janet realises that Robert has somewhat kissed another woman, slaps him, and runs away. Image:Drowsy chaperone.jpg

Feldzieg is worried. He's about to lose his leading lady for sure. Kitty volunteers to replace his star with her mind-reading act: "Kitty, The Incomprehensible." But when the pastry chefs arrive, Feldzieg throws them off the scent by utuilizing their sense of rhythm and dessert puns (Toledo Surprise).

Aldolpho enters to announce: the wedding is off! He has made love to the bride, indicating — the chaperone! The room exhales. The wedding is on. "The wedding is off!" The speaker is Janet herself. "Robert kissed a French girl. Her name is Mimi. She's very beautiful." The curtain closes.

The Man crosses before the closed curtain and eats a power bar, musing about his own wedding. He excuses himself from the audience, he has to go and take a comfort break. While he's gone, we listen to the opening of Act II. The Man has left us alone to witness a catastrophic mistake he has made; the record playing and the scene before us (Message from a Nightingale), is from another Gable and Stein show, The Enchanted Nightingale, also starring Beatrice Stockwell and Roman Bartelli (sporting a Chinese accent equally as offensive as his Spanish one). A quick change of LPs and the second act of "The Drowsy Chaperone" is underway.

A depressed Janet sings longingly on her moonlit balcony (in the middle of the day) and sings "The Bride's Lament". The song has perfectly dreadful monkey-themed lyrics, (after Janet's nickname for Robert, her "Little Monkey") but a great melody, says Man in Chair, who is now nursing a brandy. It devolves into a fully-fledged mad scene, as the tormented Janet is torn between her "Life of Glamour" and a future with Robert. The song, bad lyrics and all, casts its magic spell over Man in Chair, but the moment is nearly ruined by Man In Chair's phone ringing again. This time he simply rips the machine out of the wall.

Mrs. Tottendale and Underling reflect on the state of things, and come to the conclusion that, despite all of romance's annoyances and problems, "Love Is Always Lovely in the End", and decide to get married. Man in Chair, now slightly "drowsy" himself, remarks how much this number bothers him: love isn't always lovely in the end in the real world. Love sometimes ends with divorce proceedings. But he's not just editorializing here, for the song leads up to a moment he has frankly become obsessed with.

Janet, in a state, bursts into her room only to have the chaperone request to borrow her veil: she has roped Aldolpho into marriage. This is soon followed by Mrs. Tottendale and Underling's announcement of their own engagement. George nearly blows a gasket: "Everybody's getting married except the bride and groom!" Robert bursts in to apologize and propose again. Janet, realizing how much she loves him, and admits that she was Mimi. Before a happy ending can be reached, though, Feldzieg bursts in and tells Janet to consider this: "No matter how well you play the part of the happy wife, you well never ever get a standing ovation!" Janet, confused again, turns for advice to her beloved chaperone. "Should I marry Robert?"

The chaperone delivers her words of wisdom, which are promptly rendered inaudible due to Aldopho dropping his cane. All we here is "...while you can." Is it "Live while you can" or "Leave while you can", Man in Chair wonders? Playing this moment over and over for us, this vinyl flaw, combined with a little too much brandy, leads to a semi-drunken rant from the tortured Man. He drops the needle on the fateful moment one more time. Janet turns to Robert and agrees to marry him.

There's one more plot point to sum up. Feldzieg has lost his star, but just in time to prevent his kneecaps from being put out of commission, he finds a replacement: Kitty the Incomprehensible. Kitty tries out her act on Feldzieg, reading his mind to reveal the question "Kitty, will you marry me?" Feldzieg swallows and goes along with it.

As George revels in his success at planning the wedding, it dawns on him: he forgot to book the minister! No matter; Trix the aviatrix is there, landing her biplane behind them for emergency repairs. Thinking fast, the assemblage points out that as the captain of a ship (of the air), Trix can perform the marriages herself and then fly everyone down for a honeymoon in Rio (I Do, I Do in the Sky)! Trix happily obliges and as the happy couples climb aboard the plane, the play reaches its penultimate note — and there is a power cut.

The record grinds to a halt. The stage is plunged into darkness.

Back in reality, the apartment building's superintendent comes to reset his breakers. He had called eariler to warn Man in Chair about the replacement, but he hadn't picked up the phone. The super turns on the power and the last note of the record blasts out in his presence. The Man, embarrassed, admits he was listening to a musical. The super remarks that he too loves musicals, but Man in Chair slams the door in his face.

Alone now, the Man is beside himself, inconsolable; one note from the end, and the moment is ruined. Falling into despair, he seeks comfort by singing As We Stumble Along (reprise) to himself. As the show draws to its uplifting close, the Man disappears on Trix's plane, with his memories, his dreams, and — for whenever he's feeling a little blue — his beloved recording of "The Drowsy Chaperone."

[edit] Significance to Canadian theatre

The Drowsy Chaperone was the first musical written and composed by Canadians to make it to Broadway in 25 years. It has been Canada's second successful Broadway musical, following in the footsteps of Baker Street.

Other Canadian musicals to make it to Broadway include:

Rockabye Hamlet, which lasted 7 performances in 1976.
Billy Bishop Goes to War, which lasted 12 performances in 1980.
Baker Street, by Marion Grudeff, Jerome Coopersmith and Ray Jessel which lasted 311 performances in 1965-66.

Anne of Green Gables toured to New York's City Center Theatre in 1971, but the two-week run is not considered a Broadway production.