It’s a comedy! It’s a musical! It’s a comedy about a musical! It’s The Drowsy Chaperone and Woodbridge High School is presenting this joyful entertainment on Thursday March 19th, Friday March 20th, Saturday March 21st (all at 7:00 pm), and Sunday, March 22nd (at 2 pm). The Drowsy Chaperone gives you two shows in one: a silly, happy, old-fashioned musical comedy set in the 1920s (like Anything Goes or The Boy Friend), and at the same time a modern day, meta-satirical look at show business and the crazy people who make it. The original Broadway production, starring Sutton Foster, Danny Burstein, and Beth Leavel, won five Tony Awards (including Best Score and Best Book) in 2006.
Woodbridge’s production of Drowsy Chaperone features 36 cast members and more than a dozen crew members and backstage support volunteers, along with student musicians in the pit. Another dozen art students are painting sets/props to create the style of the roaring twenties. These are dedicated WHS students giving their time, talent and energy to make a heart-warming story which Woodbridge audiences will adore.
This is a show-within-a-show. We first meet the Man-in-chair (Lenny Sharpe), an everyman living in a basic NYC apartment. He breaks the “fourth wall” as he chats with the audience about life. As he plays his favorite old record, the show magically comes to life in front of our eyes. And what a show! We meet a gorgeous and talented star (Alyssa Molnar) who’s considering giving up show business to marry a dashing Gatsby-type millionaire (Dan Nebus), a pair of gangsters (Chris Torres & Gabriella Gangemi) posing as pastry chefs to invade a Long Island mansion overseen by the rich, ditsy host (Julia Bialy) and her trusted butler (Kevin Catalon), a Latin lothario (Daniel Tajes), a gold-digging chorine (Rosie Pilla) and her frustrated producer (Michael Trujillo), a frenzied best man trying to make the wedding run smoothly (Joe Golden), an Amelia Earhardt-style female aviator (Haley Resta), and, of course, the title character, a “drowsy” confidante and chaperone (Lauren Padden). What more could you want for an evening’s entertainment?
The Drowsy Chaperone has a tuneful score by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, and a smart book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar (Slings and Arrows on TV).
The directors are Kelly Terrell and Tom Lynch, the musical directors are Jason Kohn and Lisa Romero. Choreography is by Mr. Quienzell Bunch, and Tom O’Shaughnessy.
Tickets can be obtained at the door ($13) or in advance from any cast member, or the main office at the high school ($10 in advance). For more information, call 732-602-8600.
For more info: Kelly Terrell 646-279-7137 or Tom Lynch 732-910-2155
