Faux '20s musical
Hale goes big and flashy with faux '20s musical “THE DROWSY CHAPERONE”
As the song from “Gypsy” reminds us, “You gotta have a gimmick if you want to get applause.” That’s a maxim that Tony Award–winning musical “The Drowsy Chaperone,” which just opened at the Hale Centre Theatre, takes to heart.
Instead of simply re-creating a 1920s musical, “Chaperone” encases it in a contemporary frame story, where a character known only as Man in Chair invites us to share a recording of the show, one of his favorites, while he relaxes in his living room.
Duplicating what happens when we get immersed in the world of a play, the characters come to life, incorporating him into the action, but he also interrupts the performance to comment on the actors and the songs, tell us how silly the story is, and reassure us: “Will it work out? Of course, it’s a musical, not real life. Things always work out in musicals.”
The story is silly, and the characters are pasteboard, but authors Bob Martin and Don McKellar know that and exploit it, while composers Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison have written a lot of snappy song-and-dance numbers to divert and entertain us.
That gives the Hale the chance to do what it does best: choreograph high-energy production numbers where butlers and maids pop up from the floor, brightly feathered showgirls descend from the ceiling, and an aviatrix and her plane take a quartet of couples away at the end. “We’ll all get married in one big clump,” announces best man George. “That’s how they do it in Utah.”
Director David Tinney is also the choreographer, and almost every number features eye-catching, toe-tapping dancing, set off by Spencer Brown’s roving, multicolored spotlighting and Suzanne Carling’s sophisticated and fashionable 1920s costumes.
In the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday cast, Debra Weed is a perky and glamorous Janet, and Taylor Eliason is easygoing and affable as her fiancé, Robert. The two are especially good in “Accident Waiting to Happen,” where she swings while he stumbles gracefully around blindfolded and on roller skates.
The character of the chaperone is obviously patterned on musical comedy star Ethel Merman, and Marcie Jacobsen has the big voice and sarcastic repartee to make her memorable. Darick J. Pead is outrageously over-the-top as her Latin lover, Aldolpho. Sharon Lyn Kenison and David T. Glaittli complement each other like the vaudeville team they supposedly are as Mrs. Tottendale and Underling; she’s spacey while he’s savvy. Ashley Kathryn Mayfield gives Kitty, the empty-headed showgirl, a ditsy demeanor and a voice that would shatter glass. David W. Stensrud is sleazy and self-serving as Feldzieg, and Jeffrey Whitlock’s George is alternately charming and harried.
But the person who makes the show work is Greg Barnett, who gives the anonymous man in the chair personality and identity. He is so natural and low key, slightly fussy and neurotic, that he makes us feel like comfortable guests in his apartment.
Kacey Udy’s set features a sunken white floor, lots of wood, and a refrigerator where characters enter and exit. Anne Puzey’s musical direction keeps everyone tuneful and together.
“The Drowsy Chaperone” is so transparent that you can see through it, but its gimmick gives it novelty, and this production makes it lots of fun.
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Media Contact:
Barbara m. bannon
The Salt Lake Tribune
features@sltrib.com
Published Oct 11, 2010 01:16PM
Updated Oct 11, 2010 07:56PM
