[NEohioPAL] THEATRE REVIEW - "The Drowsy Chaperone" Deserves A Bigger Audience!!

[Margie Krestle]

I haven't seen anything written up about this show (which is a shame), so I
thought I'd toss out my "two cents" and hopefully encourage some of you to
go see this show.


Lately, it’s been a crap-shoot for me to find affordable entertainment that
I enjoy without feeling like I need to take out a mortgage on my house.
Imagine my surprise and delight when, as I was sifting through the various
online entertainment directories last week and I discovered that Garfield
Players was about to open my FAVORITE Broadway musical (EVER) - *The Drowsy
Chaperone.*



Not expecting too much, because I know what community theatre is like, I set
out to see this production just to enjoy the songs and story that I love so
much. From the very first moments of Garfield Player’s production of *The
Drowsy Chaperone*, however, I knew I was in for a treat. This may be a
community theatre production, but aside from the flimsy set construction,
you couldn’t prove it by what I witnessed.  The talent in this show could
give a national tour a run for its money.



Let me begin by saying that the Garfield Center for the Performing Arts is a
lovely facility located at Garfield Heights High School. It’s a huge space,
with a seating capacity of well over 800.  I bring all of this up because I
literally had my pick of seats, since only about 25-30 other people attended
the performance that I saw.  In an auditorium that size, an audience that
small should be criminal – and I admit to being a little embarrassed for the
production.  What is impressive about it is that the cast and crew of *The
Drowsy Chaperone* performed undaunted and unaffected by the sparce audience.



Director James E. Jarrell has assembled an extremely talented group to
perform this show, and all of the casting was just about “spot-on” perfect.
He clearly managed this talent well, creating some lovely stage pictures
that really capture the show’s “moment.”  Mr. Jarrell clearly understands
the style and finesse of this kind of campy musical theatre faire. As an
aficionado of the Broadway production, I could definitely see some parallels
in the stage direction, and although it didn’t bother me, I would have liked
to have seen some more creativity and originality.



Not that there isn’t an abundance of creativity in this show.  The
choreography by Jennifer Leinweber-Ritz gave just enough of a nod to the
original Broadway production without being a copy. The most obvious homage
was the “Show Off” number, which just didn’t quite make the mark.  Also a
very ambitious tap dance routine in “Cold Feets” seems too difficult for the
obvious beginner tappers and kind of falls flat.



The cast more than makes up for those moments with rousing renditions of
“Toledo Surprise” and “Bride’s Lament (the Monkey Song).”  Very clever
staging and entertaining choreography in both numbers is executed to
perfection by this talented cast, which makes these two numbers the
strongest ensemble pieces in the show. Of particular note in “Bride’s
Lament” is Allison Lehr’s (as the bride, Janet Vandegraf) incredible vocals,
which was a pleasant surprise considering her lackluster performance Act
One’s “Show Off.”



Other highlights in the show’s cast include Jeremy Janik as Aldolpho – “the
King of Romance.” Although it is sometimes hard to make out what he says,
his brutally offensive and over-the-top caricature had me in stitches,
particularly during his self-titled song and dance routine.  Amiee Collier
was splendid as the title character – the Drowsy Chaperone – and has one of
those voices that gives you goose bumps when she sings, though at times she
was more boisterous (and obnoxious) than “drowsy” (aka drunk).  Don Pedley’s
deadpan Underling and Diane Pedee’s dim-witted Mrs. Tottendale are both
performed with understated brilliance.  The remainder of the cast and
ensemble complement each other remarkably well for community theatre and do
not disappoint at all.



The real star of this production, however, lies in the brilliant comic
timing of the show’s narrator (the “Man In Chair”) as portrayed by Jason
Falkofsky.  Falkofsky carries off the combination of obsession and neuroses
to perfection, without making the role cartoonish (which was a big problem I
had with the touring production).  He sets the pace early on and endears the
audience with his gentle voice and obvious adoration for what he’s
witnessing on stage. I was in love with his performance from top to bottom –
and he clearly makes this production better.



The costuming was neither a highlight nor a liability for this production
and had brief flashes of brilliance mixed with some blandness.  Other
technical elements have leaps and bounds to make to meet the level of talent
in the cast, but none of it was so bad that it ruined my enjoyment of the
show.  The orchestra (essentially a wind ensemble with a set of drums and an
electronic keyboard) is typical community theatre quality, and they are
quite loud – which might be a major problem for you if you don’t know the
show since they frequently drown out the singers on stage.



Overall, I was truly impressed by this production and I really hope they get
more substantial audiences over the next two weekends.  I honestly wouldn’t
have known anything about it if I didn’t happen upon it in the events
calendar on the PD website.  Obviously more needs to be done to get the word
out about this show. At any rate, if you have time to go see it, you should.
You won't be disappointed.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20101104/b6f25991/attachment-0003.htm>