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Bride-to-be Janet Van De Graff (Bethany Moore) has to choose between show business and married life singing “Bride’s Lament” in “The Drowsy Chaperone” at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse. (Photo by Glenn Gaston) |
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Delicious Escapism: Merry-Go-Round stages worthy 'Drowsy Chaperone'
By Barbara Adams
"The Drowsy Chaperone": Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison; book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar. Directed by Ed Sayles; musical direction by Corinne Aquilina. With Robert Moss, Bethany Moore, and ensemble. At Auburn's Merry-Go-Round Playhouse through June 30.
When a musical has lyrics like "monkey, monkey, monkey" sung by a disillusioned lover, you might think twice before buying a ticket. But in the case of "The Drowsy Chaperone" ("drowsy" meaning "tipsy"), you'd be wrong - and missing out on one of the funniest, most entertaining shows of the summer.
Still running, since 2006, in New York City, this multiple award-winning "musical within a comedy" (music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison; book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar) opens the season at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, whose appreciative audience just can't get enough song and dance. "The Drowsy Chaperone" - far too loving to be a satire, but every bit as satisfying - is a spoof on Twenties musicals, so it cleverly appeals alike to those who love or loathe the genre.
It's pure, delicious escapism with its own ironic device: a narrative framework provided by The Man in the Chair, a somewhat sad and solitary show queen who, ensconced in his drab apartment, shares one of his favorite musicals with us. They don't make them like they used to, he assures us, slipping an old record from its sleeve and regaling us with gossip about the performers' lives. Try to forget one actor was nibbled by his poodles after he died, the Man urges us. (Just try.)
The Man's commentary is the key to this spoof's success, of course, and Ithaca favorite Robert Moss (former artistic director at both the Hangar Theatre and Syracuse Stage) is irresistible in the role. "I hate theatre" are the first words out of his mouth, but what he dislikes is all the failures and compromises, disrespectful audiences and contemporary trendsetters.
Nostalgic and idealistic yet an endless armchair critic, The Man sifts through the dross for those past moments of utter gold. Moss creates a mensch: his character's obsessive theatrical lore is tender rather than tedious; his expectant enthusiasm, as he sits in his armchair listening, charmingly childlike.
Behind him onstage unfolds the musical he's explaining, where Rob Andrusko's set and Adam Frank's lighting evoke cartoonish splendor and theatrical faux-magic (as in a starry evening sky, even though the scene's in daytime). Logic and musical comedy rarely meet, and director Ed Sayles and his talented cast skillfully make use of all the script's send-ups.
"The Drowsy Chaperone" might not include every musical cliché in the book, but it parodies enough to make you lose count. There's thwarted young love, mistaken identity, spectacle and silliness all culminating in four (mostly improbable) marriages. Boozing older woman (played by Julie Cardia) ostensibly chaperones show biz celeb Janet (Bethany Moore) on the eve of her wedding to handsome Robert (Michael VanGemert). But the ceremony's off when Robert (on skates and blindfolded, naturally, a distraction devised by his best man, George (Danny Gardner)) flirts with a French girl (Janet, testing him). This cancellation suits Janet's Broadway producer (Brad Nacht), who's being besieged by his chorine girlfriend (Jenny Long) to replace Janet and more ominously by two mob hitmen posing as chefs (Michael Muñoz and Bryan Plofsky), whose boss, the show's backer, stands to lose big bucks when the star marries and leaves show business.
Got it? And this melée's all happening at the palatial home of senescent Mrs. Tottendale (Sandra Karas), served by her long-suffering butler (Geno Carr). Meanwhile, a visiting Latin Lothario (Bruce Warren) seduces the chaperone, mistaking her for the bride, as a way to get back at Robert, for reasons we've already forgotten. Everything comes out sunny side up, unsurprisingly, thanks to the crash landing of a Sapphic aviatrix (Aleka Emerson) who performs the nuptials for anyone left standing.
Along the way, there are some tinkling tunes (try to get "Love is Always Lovely" out of your head; musical direction by Corinne Aquilina), some happy feets (especially Gardner's; choreography by Lori Leshner), and a couple of blow-you-away ensemble numbers. My favorites include "Show Off," when Bethany Moore's Janet protests she's going to bid farewell to the stage while displaying herself flamboyantly, right down to splits and cartwheels. Doll-beautiful, long-legged, supple and stylish, Moore, with knockout vocals, is perfect in the role.
Another smashing piece, "Aldolpho," is the Spanish seducer's paean to himself, which Warren delivers with brilliant comic excess. Act Two opens with an Oriental number (aptly garish costumes by Travis Lope), which we're sucked up in before The Man realizes he's put on the wrong record. Absolutely ridiculous, stuffed with in-jokes, word play, and sight gags (like Carr guiltily tapping his exit), this "Drowsy Chaperone" will delight even the most curmudgeonly.
Barbara Adams, a regional arts journalist, teaches writing at Ithaca College.
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Purgatory Hill, the Wisconsin-based duo that made its Ithaca debut this past March, is coming back to the area for a pair of shows this week: Thursday, Sept. 2 at the Rongovian Embassy in Trumansburg, and Friday, Sept. 3 at the Haunt in Ithaca. After a successful first year, New Roots, the charter school on Cayuga Street committed to sustainability and social justice, is expanding.  |
