The Drowsy Chaperone

Study Guide

Contents:

1. History of the play

2. The Roaring 20’s
3. Why musical theatre is good for
your health
4. Questions for you
 The Drowsy Chaperone
A production history
By Anne-Laure Talbot

In 1997, friends of Canadian comedian and writer Bob Martin created a skit honoring
Martin and his then fiancée Janet Van de Graaff as a wedding gift. Among this group of friends
were Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, and Don McKellar. This rather quirky forty minute musical
spoof, titled The Drowsy Chaperone, would later become the full-length musical we now know.
The original concept included music, but was not specifically grounded in the Jazz Age or the
Broadway of the late 1920s, and did not feature the character of Man in the Chair. It was
performed at The Rivoli Theater in Toronto during Bob Martin’s bachelor party.

The skit was extremely well received by Bob Martin, and discussions began about how to
turn it into a full show. The following year, Robert Martin joined the project as a writer, along with
Don McKellar as co-writer, and Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison as composers. The concept of
the Man in the Chair as narrator was added to the storyline at that time to give perspective on the
musical numbers that composed the fictional 1928 musical. The expanded version was presented
at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 1999, where it caught the eye of producer David Mirvish. Under
his leadership, the show moved to a small, not-for-profit theater, Théâtre Passe-Muraille in
Toronto, and then to the 1000-seat Winter Garden Theater, also in Toronto, after favorable
reviews and strong ticket sales. In 2001, New York producer Roy Miller, who attended a
performance at the Winter Garden Theater at the invitation of the Canadian production team, fell
in love with the show and opted the rights.

After failing to entice fellow New York and Broadway producers to read the script of The
Drowsy Chaperone, Roy Miller organized a stage reading in New York with Bob Martin (Man in
the Chair), Georgia Engel (Mrs Tottendale) and Danny Burstein (Aldolpho), who were part of the
original Canadian cast. This generated a lot of interested from actors, singers, and producers and
resulted in several producers committing to produce a full version of The Drowsy Chaperone on
Broadway. Director and Choreographer Casey Nicholaw joined in on the project.

After a pre-Broadway engagement at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles in 2005, The
Drowsy Chaperone opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theater on May 1, 2006 and ran for 679
performances, including 32 preview nights. The cast was composed of Robert Martin (Man in the
Chair), Sutton Foster (Janet Van de Graaff), Georgia Engel (Mrs Tottendale), Edward Hibbert
(Underling), Beth Leavel (Drowsy Chaperone), Jason Kravits (Gangster #1), Garth Kravits
(Gangster #2), Troy Britton Johnson (Bob Martin), Eddie Korbich (George), Jennifer Smith
(Kitty), Kecia Lewis-Evan (Trix), Lenny Wolpe (Feldzieg), and Danny Burstein (Aldolpho).

A production of The Drowsy Chaperone opened on May 14, 2007 in London’s West End
at The Novello Theater, with the support of the Broadway production team and under the
direction of Casey Nicholaw. Despite a mostly British cast and overall encouraging reviews from
the British press, the show did not encounter the same success it did on Broadway. The run
ended early on August 4, 2007, instead of February 2008 as was originally scheduled.
 In September 2007, The Drowsy Chaperone went on a national tour, starting at the Elgin
Theater in Toronto. Bob Martin and Georgia Engel reprised their roles as Man in the Chair and
Mrs. Tottendale, respectively; however Bob Martin left the tour after Toronto and was replaced by
Jonathan Crombie. The national tour traveled to more than 30 cities and came to a close on
March 28, 2010.

Other renditions of The Drowsy Chaperone include original productions by the

Vancouver Playhouse Theater Company (2008); the ZACH Theater in Austin, TX (2009); the
Oak Ridge Playhouse in Oak Ridge, TN (2010); and the Melbourne Theater Company in
Melbourne, Australia (2010).

The Drowsy Chaperone has won numerous awards, beginning with the Canadian Comedy
Award for Pretty Funny Comedic Play in 2000. In 2006, the Broadway production received 5
Tony Awards, including awards for Best Original Score (Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison), Best
Book of a Musical (Bob Martin and Don McKellar), Best Costume Design of a Musical (Gregg
Barnes), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Beth Leavel), and Best Scenic Design of a Musical
(David Gallo). The show also earned six Drama Desk Awards that same year. Bob Martin
received a Theater World Award in 2006 for his performance in The Drowsy Chaperone.
 THE ROARING TWENTIES

WHAT HAPPENED IN 1928?

1928 (MCMXXVIII) is a leap year starting on a Sunday.

28 inches of snow fall in southern-central Pennsylvania on April 28th, 1928.

1928 Winter Olympic Games take place in St. Moritz, Switzerland

Harlem nightclubs thrives, spotlighting numerous

artists such as jazz musicians Louis Armstrong and
Duke Ellington.

Charles Lindbergh completes his first trans-Atlantic flight.

The first analog TV service is presented in Schenectady, New York.

Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in

an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean.

The Republic of China is recognized by the United

States.
 1928 - Paavo Nurmi runs world record 10 miles (50:15.0).

An iron lung respirator is used for the first

time at Children's Hospital, Boston. This
invention helps a little girl who suffered
from poliomyelitis to recover from
respiratory failure nearly instantaneously.

Arnold Rothstein, one of New York City's most notorious gamblers, is shot
dead over a poker game.

The Threepenny Opera (German: Die Dreigroschenoper) by Bertolt Brecht

and Kurt Weill opens at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin.

Women exercise their newly found right to vote, which they won in 1920 in the
1928 elections in which Republican Herbert Hoover wins U.S. presidential
election by a wide margin over Democrat Alfred E. Smith.
The animated short Steamboat Willie is released.

This is the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed

by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, and features cartoon stars
Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

The Drowsy Chaperone, starring Janet Van De Graff, opens

at the Morosco Theatre in New York City. *

*only true in the reality of the play.

 Why Musical Theatre is good for your health*.
The Drowsy Chaperone is, above all, a celebration of the restorative
powers of theatre.

Post World War I, the world was exhausted from the “dreary horrors of the real
world.” The musical theatre explosion of the 1920s was an antidote to that
dreariness. Audiences came to the theatre for spectacle. They wanted to escape
their daily reality to enter a larger than life story, replete with vibrant characters,
toe tapping songs, and happy endings.

Even today we find that audiences seek out escapist entertainment when times
are tough. In film, as in theatre, musicals are most popular with cultures that are
facing an economic depression.

Did you know that listening to music can change your brain?

Listening to the right kind of music releases endorphins in your brain that can
cause relief of pain. (1)

Listening to music can also trigger the brain to release melatonin, which can make
you feel relaxed, or even – dare I say it? – DROWSY! (1)

Listening to music can also make you feel an uncontrollable urge to get up and do
something crazy, like tap dance home from Live Arts.

(1) “Music on the Brain” (2000) from

http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html

*not approved by the FDA

 Questions for you:

What about you? How does music make you feel? Is The Drowsy Chaperone the first musical you’ve ever
seen?

Do you think musical theatre has the same effect on modern audiences as it did in the 1920s? Why?

What were three funny moments in this play? Why were they funny?

1.

2.

3.