‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ has a second coming at Vintage Theatre

The madcap musical comedy boasts a powerhouse ensemble and tight direction by Kelly Van Oosbree

Count the production of The Drowsy Chaperone among the many casualties of Covid. Originally a Performance Now Theatre  Company production, it was just about ready to open in March of 2020 when you-know-what happened. The Performance Now show finally ran last September at the Lakewood Cultural Center and was nominated for several Henry Awards, with one of the five wins going to Vintage Theatre artistic director Bernie Cardell for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.

Fast-forward to today in Aurora, where the show has been remounted as a joint production between Performance Now and Vintage and packing them in. It’s easy to see why the 1998 musical sendup won five 2006 Tony’s and has been produced in countries around the world. Billed as a comedy within a musical, Drowsy is as much fun to watch as a musical as it is a series of jokes poking fun at the genre. Cardell is back as Man in Chair — a grumpy loner who sits in his living room playing records of old musicals while offering running wry commentary to the audience. When he pulls out the double album of a 1920s musical called The Drowsy Chaperone, he decides to play the whole thing, and the show becomes a full-blown production of a superbly ridiculous mashup of musical tropes.

Let’s stop here to heap every amount of praise possible upon Kelly Van Oosbree, who directed and choreographed the show (also drawing a Henry nomination for the original Performance Now production). With 22 actors to manage on a relatively small stage, Van Oosbree just freakin’ killed it. Not only did she assemble a supremely kick-ass cast of local talent, she also made this physically complex show run like a Swiss watch. Watching one of the final numbers with everyone on stage, I was compelled to watch all of the feet hitting all those steps in perfect time and be perfectly wowed.

This show has an embarrassment of riches cast-wise, starting with Cardell himself, who schlumps his way through the action successfully selling the wonders of the musical while simultaneously panning its many flaws. “I hate this song,” is how he intros one of the numbers.

The 1920s musical we’re watching with the Man in Chair starts off with a wedding between Broadway start Janet Van De Graaff (Colby Reisinger) and oil tycoon Robert Martin (Andy Sievers). Reisinger is tremendous as the pouty, stereotypical attention-seeker who’s wrestling with her decision to give up the stage once married. (Additional props to the actor for powering through the high-speed action with a baby on the way.) Sievers has a lot of fun running around as the smitten doofus who’s just trying to make Janet and everyone else happy.

Colby Reisinger and Andy Sievers | Photo: RDG Photography

Mixed into the plot is Feldzieg (George A. Zamarripa), who’s trying to prevent the wedding from taking place because Janet is the star of his show, Feldzieg’s Follies. Normally seen at Su Teatro, Zamarripa does a really nice job in the role of the harried producer who’s being pressured by a pair of thugs who represent the gangster he borrowed money from. He’s accompanied by yet another familiar and offensive-today character, the dumb blonde. This is Kitty (a spot-on Adrianne Hampton), who’s in line to replace Janet in the Follies.

The thug characters might’ve been bit parts, but here they’re played to maximum effect by Tim Campbell and Kris Graves — the two big guys nail it as a Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum posing as pastry chefs as they work to twist Feldzieg’s arm.

Also on hand is Drowsy, the eponymous booze-swiller charged with keeping the bride out of sight of the groom. This is fully inhabited by the great Nancy Evans Begley, who has a field day as the tipsy relative unafraid to say whatever comes to mind — and who wouldn’t mind a wedding fling of her own if the opportunity presents itself. This comes in the form of another bombastic stereotype in Adolpho (Matt LaFontaine). With an outrageous Desi Arnaz wig, an over-the-top accent and clothing and libido to match, LaFontaine plays the oversexed Latino trope for everything it’s worth. (It’s one of several dated, non-PC things Main in Chair calls out along the way.) And, of course, Drowsy and Adolpho end up deciding to get married alongside Janet and Robert.

Nancy Evans Begley and Matt LaFontaine | Photo: RDG Photography

Adding the action are the butler (Brian Trampler) and his ditzy counterpart Mrs. Tottendale (Jennifer Burnett), whose bits serve as costume-change aids and rely on, yep, more tropes like the multiple spit-take scene sneered at by Man in Chair. Amazingly, they also decide to get married along with the others, soon to be joined by Kitty and Feldzieg, who also decide they must marry.

Jennifer Burnett and Brian Trampler | Photo: RDG Photography

Of course, weddings need a best man, and Andrew Bates as George ends up serving in the role for all four of them. Bates is great as the frenzied but on-top-of-it guy who somehow manages to keep things moving. (Bates also designed the set, earning a Henry nomination for the original production.)

And, as wacky musicals must, there’s the adventurous outlier. It seems like this was often filled by a “great white hunter” type wielding a rifle, but in Drowsy it’s Trix the aviatrix, played with serious aplomb by Michaela Murray. (The fact that a full-on airplane prop makes it into the final number is just icing on the cake.)

There are some more plot points involving mistaken identity, “the wedding’s off” worries and the like, all of which will be familiar to anyone who’s ever seen an old musical comedy.

I just love a show like this, one so lightweight and fun but given a stamp of excellence by just being such a well-done production.

The Drowsy Chaperone is one of those therapeutic productions that does an excellent job of letting us forget the world for a couple of hours, surrendering ourselves to a ludicrous land where, somehow, everything works out in the end. It’s a ton of fun to watch the large cast looking like they’re having a grand time themselves, and the energy spills over to the audience for the entire show.

The big finale | Photo: RDG Photography