Audiences won’t nod off at ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’
The Tony Award-winning musical “The Drowsy Chaperone” is anything but sleep inducing, according to Sarafina Vecchio of Huntley, who plays the namesake character in the Elgin Community College Musical Theatre production.
“There are so many showstopping numbers in it, I would think that every character has its own ability to stop the show,” Vecchio said. “We have an extremely strong ensemble and it’s a very funny show.”
The show opens Friday, Feb. 17, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 26, at the ECC Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. Tickets are $18-$20 and available at tickets.elgin.edu or by calling (847) 622-0300.
The play was first produced on Broadway from May 2006 through December 2007 and won Tonys for Best Book, (Bob Martin and Don McKellar) and Best Score (Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison).
The story follows an agoraphobic Broadway aficionado, Angelo O’Dierno, who remembers a musical he loved in 1928.
The production is a show within a show, with each actor playing dual roles.
“The musical is very different,” said Terry Christianson of St. Charles, who plays Roman Bartelli/Aldopho. “It’s like a musical within a comedy. We’re actors who are playing a show. The show comes to life inside this gentleman’s home.”
“There is a man sitting in his apartment in New York and he’s addressing the audience the entire time,” said Vecchio, who, in addition to the chaperone, plays Beatrice Stockwell, a Broadway legend. “He is playing a record of a 1928 show, called ‘The Drowsy Chaperone,’ which is his favorite Broadway show.
“So while we are doing the show, he is stopping and starting us and asking about who’s who and what’s their history, etc.,” Vecchio added.
Actors appear and fall in and out of the characters in the musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone” as the Broadway fan interacts with them, thus the dual roles.
The musical portion of the show follows the chaperone character, who is tipsy, and therefore drowsy, throughout as she travels with a wedding party to an estate for which she’s to be maid-of-honor and chaperone.
“She’s having a lot of trouble with jealousy with the character of Janet,” Vecchio said.
The wedding jitters and preparation of showgirl Janet Van De Graff — Amy Delamoreaux of Streamwood — to oil tycoon Robert Martin — Brett Baleskie of Naperville — results in vaudevillian-style uproar.
Not surprisingly, preparing for a dual role is doubly challenging, according to Vecchio. Her two characters, actress Beatrice Stockwell, and The Drowsy Chaperone required separate and equal attention. “I had to decide how Beatrice Stockwell would develop her character, the Drowsy Chaperone; how she would play it and not how I would,” Vecchio said.
Christianson’s portrayal of the Roman Bartelli/Aldolpho character has him less concerned about the challenges of a dual role and more focused on playing someone very unlike himself.
“The real person in the show is Roman Bartelli. He’s kind of a self-proclaimed ladies’ man and well known alcoholic, unfortunately,” Christianson said. “They call him a Latin Lothario. He loves to say his name an awful lot.”
“It’s a challenge to be full of myself,” he added. “Some people think that theater people are all full of themselves, but it’s hard to portray that onstage. He’s a big character.”
Also doing double duty in the production is director and choreographer Konnie Kay, who chose the musical along with musical and art director John G. Slawson.
Kay, of St. Charles, who has been with ECC Musical Theatre for nine years, enjoys wearing the director’s hat as well as the choreographer’s. “It’s really fun to do both because I get a through line for what my vision is,” she said. “I believe choreography has to enhance the plot, not just be a bunch of dancing. Because I’m doing it myself, it’s not disjointed, I really like the way I get to move through the story with my thoughts.”
While not contending with developing a character, Kay was faced with a lack of tap dancers in a tap-heavy show, due to the drop in popularity of tap dancing over time.
“I had to teach people, not only the choreography, but how to tap. They’ve done a remarkable job,” she said.
“One of the leads has to do a lot of tapping and I can’t tell you how proud I am of him,” Kay said. “He’s just done so well. Not even just good for him, just plain fabulous.”
The dancing performers were chosen at an audition with no tap dancing experience necessary, although Kay had an eye out for actors who might have the ability to learn the skill in a short period.
“I can tell when somebody has the dexterity and fine motor skills to be able to learn it,” she said.
The show is fast-paced, energetic, and suitable for all ages, according to Kay.
“This is definitely family-friendly, there’s nothing that a child can’t see,” she said.
“It’s a fun, crazy show,” agreed Christianson. “It’s full of laughter. It’s fun for all ages.”
Another benefit of the play-within-a-play, according to Kay, is that musicals lovers can sometimes entice those who like their theater without song and dance.
“I think it intrigues people who don’t love musical theater because it also kind of makes fun of it,” Kay said. “It’s the old musical — but then again it isn’t.”
If you go
What: Elgin Community College Musical Theatres production of The Drowsy Chaperone
When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Feb. 17, 18, 24 and 25 and 3 p.m. Sundays, Feb. 19 and 26
Where: ECC Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin
Tickets: $20, $18 for students and seniors. Visit tickets.elgin.edu or call (847) 622-0300.