TUTS brings star talent to its production of Drowsy Chaperone
TUTS production of this love letter to musical theatre works on all fronts
A little man in a sweater vest, in love with old musicals, invites us into his home and puts his favourite cast recording on the record player. It’s The Drowsy Chaperone from 1928, back when ” ‘a gay wedding ’ just meant ‘fun’.” Then he sits in his chair and conjures the entire show for us.
Will the glamorous showgirl give up her career to marry the cute rich guy? Will the gangsters disguised as bakers force the producer to stop the wedding? Will the drowsy (actually drunken) chaperone do her job or will the Latin film star seduce the bride instead? Can an aviatrix save the day?
Silly? Yes. Inspired? Yes. A 1928 musical? No.
Written by Canadians Bob Martin and Don McKellar (book), Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
(music and lyrics), The Drowsy Chaperone opened on Broadway in 2006, winning Tony and Drama Desk awards in nearly every category. A deliriously witty love letter to musical theatre, it gets special delivery treatment in Gillian Barber’s funny, energetic Theatre Under the Stars production, graced with talent galore.
Man in Chair, played with sweet, nerdy congeniality by Shawn Macdonald, sets up each scene and relates the biographies of the fictional musical’s fictional performers as each one enters, sometimes through the door of a giant upstage fridge.
He advises us to ignore the lyrics of a song about a monkey on a pedestal and just enjoy the music. He quickly changes a record that generates a ludicrous racist scene in “an oriental palace.” Oops, wrong record. He quietly, elegantly dances with the dancers.
And those dancers can dance. The groom (Stuart Barkley) and his best man (Blake Sartin) tap their brains out.
With a cast of 28, choreographer Shelley Stewart Hunt has a large chorus of talented dancers to support them. Barkley dances through another number, Accident Waiting to Happen, blindfolded on roller skates. He’s a strong singer, too.
The gangsters (Kai Bradbury and Nicholas Bradbury) threaten the producer (Stefan Winfield) with impressive acrobatic choreography and a song that puns on baked goods.
Silent film star and macho Latin lover Aldolpho (a scene-stealing, scenery-chewing Dimitrios Stephanoy) is consistently hilarious, all Dracula cape and attitude.
As in many of this summer’s shows, the women own centre stage. The wonderful Catriona Murphy plays the diva-esque title character like an alcoholic Barbra Streisand. Murphy belts like Babs, too, in her anthemic number, As We Stumble Along.
And Shannon Hanbury outdivas the diva as bride-to-be Broadway starlet Janet. Hanbury is simply sensational, a musical triple threat.
In Janet’s feature number, Show Off, Hanbury sings, “I don’t wanna show off no more,” then does just that with big-time dance moves, ridiculously high kicks and splits, multiple costume changes (designer Chris Sinosich doing her usual magic) and an altogether killer performance.
Kudos to music director/conductor Kevin Michael Cripps, his 12-piece orchestra, and sound designer Brad Danyluk, whose clear mix lets us hear all the clever lyrics along with the fine music on the TUTS’ outdoor stage.
The Drowsy Chaperone plays in rep with Mary Poppins through mid-August, a quintessential Vancouver summer experience under the stars in Stanley Park.