“The Drowsy Chaperone” is Fabulous Fun

Joy Clark and the cast of “The Drowsy Chaperone” at Lyric Stage

“The Drowsy Chaperone” – Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lampert and Greg Morrison. Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar. Directed and Choreographed by Larry Sousa. Musical Direction by Matthew Stern. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, through May 12.

By Michele Markarian

From the moment the Man in Chair (an engaging Paul Melendy) puts on a record of his favorite musical from the 1920s to shake himself out of a gloomy mood, we know we are in for a fun ride. Melendy’s sincerity, wry delivery, and easy charm set the tone for the rest of the show, where the acting is impeccable, the vocals are terrific, the songs are catchy, and the script is funny.

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THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (MMAS Black Box Theater, Mansfield, MA)

 

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

 

Welcome back to the 1920’s and to MMAS Black Box Theater’s current show which is “The Drowsy Chaperone”, a five-time Tony Award winning musical. The show first opened on Broadway on May 1, 2006 and starred Georgia Engel as Mrs. Tottendale. It won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score. The hilarious show-within-a-show begins when a die-hard musical fan decides to play his favorite cast album, a 1928 smash hit called The Drowsy Chaperone and the show magically bursts to life right in his very own apartment. It is a send up of a Jazz Age musical featuring one show stopping number after another. When the house lights dim, a man in a chair appears onstage and plays his favorite recording of this fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and “The Drowsy Chaperone” begins. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight. Director Vincent Ratsavong picks the best 16 performers for these wild and madcap roles, winning his cast a thunderous ovation at the close of the show.

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