The Drowsy Chaperone, Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, Winchester, VA

 

The cast of The Drowsy Chaperone at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre. (Photo credit: C King Media and SSMTVA.)

My first trip to see a show at the Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre (SSMT) in Winchester, Virginia, will not be my last. The Drowsy Chaperone, their current offering (through July 14), was the perfect antidote to the sweltering heat of a July afternoon. It is a rare gem among musicals, totally original, not based on a book, play, movie, or the “greatest hits” of some musician. SSMT gives it just the kind of “lighter than air” production it deserves.

We meet “the Man in the Chair,” who addresses us, at first, from the dark. He’s agoraphobic, feeling a little “blue,” in his New York apartment. He seeks some relief by playing the recording of one of his favorite musicals from the 1920s, The Drowsy Chaperone. He recounts the well-worn plot of that show, which is brought to life by the actors who made it famous, and we are treated to the delicious parody that ensues.

We are at the estate of the wealthy (and rather air-headed) Mrs. Tottendale, who is wearing her fancy dress and doesn’t remember why. Her butler, Underling, informs her that the occasion is the wedding of the glamorous Janet Van de Graff, a popular entertainer of stage and screen, to Robert Martin, the handsome scion of a wealthy family. Janet is making news by giving up her life of glamour to marry the nervous but practical Robert. Janet is accompanied by the titular chaperone, who enters inquiring where the bar is located. Reminded that it is Prohibition, she is unfazed since she has brought her own. Champagne, it seems, makes her “drowsy” (tipsy).

Opposing the marriage (and Janet’s departure from the stage) is the producer of Feldzieg’s Follies, a very successful show that stands to lose money if Janet leaves. Two gangsters, disguised as pastry chefs, are present to put the pressure on Feldzieg, who owes a large sum of money to their boss. Feldzieg is accompanied by the ambitious but fairly untalented Kitty, who has her eyes on the producer as well as on Janet’s role in the show. Feldzieg has engaged the services of a Spanish Lothario, Adolpho, to seduce the bride and therefore cancel the wedding.

If that all sounds confusing, the writers’ mission has been accomplished. Getting it all sorted out in order to reach its happy ending (remember, this is a musical from the 1920s) is all the fun, even incorporating an Amelia Earhart-ish aviatrix, who swoops in at the last minute to perform a necessary function before flying not one but four happy newly-wedded couples off to Rio.

That we are listening to a record (one of those vinyl disks that were the standard for decades and are seeing something of a renaissance these days, remember?) is reinforced when the record gets “stuck” and requires that the Man in the Chair manually move the needle. This bit is cleverly staged as the cast goes into a “broken record” repeat at several different points.

As the Man in the Chair describes the musical, he gives us some tidbits about the actors (all fictional) who played the characters in the original production. Janet, for example, is played by an actress known as the “oops” girl, for her mere presence was enough to make men stumble. The chaperone is played by an aging actress noted for singing rousing anthems in her shows. The bridegroom is played by an actor noted for doing commercials for a toothpaste that contained cocaine and sugar. And the Spanish Lothario is played by an actor who later met an unfortunate end.

Writers Bob Martin and Don McKellar, with composers and lyricists Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, all of whom won Tonys for Best Musical Book and Best Musical Score, have layered the musical thusly: we are seeing contemporary actors playing actors of an earlier era in a show from that era. Got that?

SSMT’s production is crisp and precise. It is impossible to tell where the work of director Edward Carignan and choreographer Brandon Kelly begins and ends. The cast accomplishes very difficult repetitions (like the aforementioned record “skips”) flawlessly. Music director Walter “Bobby” McCoy ensures that the score is expertly sung by the cast and played by the 13-member orchestra.

Jeremy Scott Blaustein as The Man in the Chair, showing the album for the fictitious The Drowsy Chaperone. (Photo credit: C King Media and SSMTVA.)

SSMT’s producing artistic director, Jeremy Scott Blaustein, makes the rather crochety Man in the Chair sympathetic and endearing, even as he recounts some of the dire minutiae of his existence with a healthy amount of sarcasm.

As Janet, leading lady Shelby Zimmerman is required to sing, dance, act, and do various acrobatic and magic tricks, and she accomplishes all of that seemingly without effort. She is charismatic and entirely convincing, especially in “Show Off,” a number in which she gets to show off all of her talents by showing us exactly what she won’t be showing off in the future.

The supporting cast is just as strong as the two leads. Regina Harbour is delightfully ditsy as Mrs. Tottendale, who doesn’t seem to have a clue but does appear to know what she wants in the end. Luke Bovenizer as Underling matches her perfectly and endures being the object of a number of messy spit-takes. Zachary Bigelow as bridegroom Robert and Preston Kelly as best man George work together well in their big tap number, “Cold Feets,” and Bigelow manages to sing and roller skate around the stage while blindfolded. Adam du Plessis as Feldzieg and Kayla Fifer as his girlfriend Kitty make their stereotypical characters fun and funny, and Cory Velazco and Cody Schmid as the gangster/pastry chefs do the same with theirs. It is a shame that Emery Cunningham as Trix doesn’t have more to do, but she brings an authority to her all-too-brief appearance.

One of the most delightful pairings and cases of mistaken identity is that of Jessica Sheridan and André Sguerra as the chaperone and her unexpected suitor. Each plays a self-centered actor cast in a role requiring verbal dexterity as well as physical comedy. Sheridan demonstrates the smooth confidence of the actor playing the chaperone and Sguerra demonstrates split-second timing and sexual enticement as the man who attempts to seduce her. Sheridan delivers her anthem, “As We Stumble Along,” full of ego and bluster, and the two make their shared number, “Adolpho,” a comic highlight.

Jessica Sheridan and Jeremy Scott Blaustein in The Drowsy Chaperone. (Photo credit: C King Media and SSMTVA.)

SSMT’s production values here are as well-executed as the casting and direction. Tony DiBernardo provides a flexible and period-appropriate setting. Darcy Kane’s costume designs enhance the characters well, and lighting designer Eric Norbury and sound designer Sam Silva contribute their respective expertise.

I highly recommend this entertaining and charming production.

Full disclosure: I have known Regina Harbour since I was in college, though I had not seen her perform during the 48 years between our last show together and this show.