Set in a quaint, out-dated apartment, “The Drowsy Chaperone” allowed audience members to be swept along in a swinging, Broadway adventure.
This play, starring Jim Hesselman, assistant professor of theater, as our cynical narrator, gave a nod to the Broadway musicals of the ’20s.
Hesselman played a lonely old man who was a little blue and decided to play his favorite Broadway record to lift his spirits, “The Drowsy Chaperone.”
The story included a cast of dramatic and overbearing characters, such as an onstage diva named Janet Van De Graf and a debonair hero who asks her to marry him.
There was also a stressed-out show-producer and the dumb blonde attached to his arm at all times, mafia men posing as chefs, a Latin lover named Aldolpho and, of course, the tipsy chaperone.
The musical told the story of Janet Van De Graf’s upcoming wedding.
The charming and popular actress fell in love with the man of her dreams — someone she had met a few days ago on a cruise ship — and decided to forego her life of fame to marry him.
Her producer was being threatened by the mafia to keep her in the show and tried to find a way to spoil the wedding plans.
Extravagant musical numbers peppered the show, such as “Cold Feets,” where the nervous groom and his best man find a cure for wedding day jitters — tap dancing.
“What do you do when you have cold feet?” Jeffery Funaro, the nervous groom, sang. “Make the cold feet hot!”
All of this melodrama and extravagance would be too much if it weren’t for the narrator’s critical, yet, sympathetic comments throughout the play.
Hesselman’s character seemed slightly ashamed of this over-the-top play. However, at the end, he admitted it was a perfect remedy for the blues.
“The best that we can do is hope a bluebird will sing his song as we stumble along,” Hesselman and the cast sang in the closing number.
This playful and romping musical was certainly proof of its own theme.
If “The Drowsy Chaperone” took itself seriously, it would be a flop, but it doesn’t.
It succeeded in creating a marvelous and enjoyable evening at the Derby Dinner Playhouse for all those who attended.
By MICHELE HOP
Staff
mhop@ius.edu
