Music takes center stage in ‘Drowsy Chaperone’ at Naperville Central
The lead character is known as Man in Chair.
How complicated could Naperville Central High School’s musical get, really?
But then the sounds of a scratchy record player turn into the music of a live orchestra and people leap out of the refrigerator.
“It’s hilarious, absolutely hilarious, because it’s just such a cleverly written script,” said Curt Parry, producer and musical director.
More than 100 students will bring the “The Drowsy Chaperone” to life at 7:30 p.m. today with additional shows at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the school auditorium, 440 W. Aurora Ave.
“The Drowsy Chaperone” is a musical within a musical set in an apartment in 1920s New York.
Man in Chair, well, he’s been feeling a little down. He decides to put on his favorite record of the fictional musical “The Drowsy Chaperone.”
In doing so, the musical comes to life in his living room, and Man in Chair acts as the narrator of the show, breaking the theatrical fourth wall to speak to the audience directly.
“He spends a lot of time on the sidelines and then inside the scene walking around and giving them the insider perspective of this show within a show,” Doman said.
Christian Schulz, a junior, has taken on the task of learning the significant amount of lines for the Man in Chair — which begins with two-plus pages of a monologue.
“As he plays his records, his imagination comes to life and all the characters come out of the refrigerator,” Schulz said. “He’s sort of commenting on the musical as the other actors are in his apartment acting it out.”
Meanwhile, the cast of about 75 students is busy singing and dancing the tale of an actress who is giving up her career to marry. Her producer seeks to stop the wedding so she won’t give up her work.
The first rule about “The Drowsy Chaperone” is that nobody talks or looks at Man in Chair, said Mike Doman, drama director.
“We had to come up with some basic rules,” Doman said. “Our biggest ground rule is that you’ve got to ignore him like he’s not there.”
So that makes it interesting for scenes where he’s playing his record and it stops, he said.
At one point, the record Man in Chair is listening to skips repeatedly, requiring the 75 students who are singing and dancing and another 15 in the orchestra pit to repeat the music and movements eight times.
“So it’s very fun and very challenging,” Parry said. “They have to dance this thing eight times, the pit orchestra plays it eight times, and they sing it eight times before it goes on. It’s very clever.”
Another time, a power outage freezes the action onstage.
“When you try to portray that live, it’s a real challenge but we laugh every rehearsal because it’s so fun to do it,” Parry said.
The Tony Award-winning musical by Bob Martin and Don McKellar debuted on Broadway in 2006.
For the musical lovers out there, “The Drowsy Chaperone” sneaks in little spoofs of conventions from musical theater, Doman said.
“It has so many familiar plot lines and familiar conflicts kind of told in a new way that’s kind of fun,” Doman said.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors.
For more information, call (630) 420-6834 or email Parry at cparry@naperville203.org.
If you go
What: Naperville Central High Schools production of The Drowsy Chaperone
When: 7:30 p.m. April 27-28, 2:30 p.m. April 29
Where: Naperville Central High School auditorium, 440 W. Aurora Ave.
Cost: $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors
Info: (630) 420-6834 or cparry@naperville203.org