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align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT face=Georgia>French
Creek’s ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ is anything but lethargic</FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN></B> </P>
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align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">“I hate theatre,” says a
frumpy, effeminate middle-aged man (</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ">Jonathan Kronenberger) </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">from his comfy center stage
chair at the start of this play.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He
is talking directly to the audience that has gathered at <SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">French Creek
Theatre, adding that he particularly hates plays that break the fourth
wall.</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT face=Georgia>But when
he’s a little blue, he tells us, he likes to listen to original vinyl cast album
recordings of 1920’s musicals, with their catchy show tunes, predictable plots
and cookie cutter characters.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And
his favorite is Gable and Stein’s “The Drowsy Chaperone,” which he offers to
play for us on an old turntable.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>And then does.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT face=Georgia>Bob Martin
and Dan McKellar’s 2006 Tony Award-winning “The Drowsy Chaperone,” with music
and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, is a thoroughly enchanting
meta-theatrical musical that pokes great fun at the very art form it is
embracing. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As such, this show is a
high-wire balancing act of sorts, with actors having to perform intentionally
bad production numbers well, play purposefully broad characters with realistic
intent, and sell outmoded wordplay, silly slapstick and an excess of spit-takes
as if vaudeville were alive and well.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
face=Georgia>Fortunately, this production and these players do everything right
with what is intended to be so very wrong and manage to deliver a very
entertaining musical within a crazy comedy. And with Kristy Cruz’s delightful
choreography under Jordan Cooper’s full-speed-ahead direction, there is never a
dull moment on stage.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>For
more of this review, go to: </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>