‘Musical within a comedy’ starts 2023-2024 Casper College play season
“’The Drowsy Chaperone,” billed as ‘a musical within a comedy,’ is charming and witty, clever and quick, and is filled with a wide variety of dance styles that will keep the smile on your face,” said Richard Burk, director.
The musical comedy will begin at 7:30 p.m. and run on Oct. 13-14 and 19-21, with a 2 p.m. performance on Saturday, Oct. 14 and 21, and an American Sign Language interpreted performance on Oct. 19.
According to Music Theatre International, “The Drowsy Chaperone” is a loving send-up of the golden age musical, featuring one show-stopping song and dance number after another.
“With the houselights down, a man in a chair appears onstage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life, and ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ begins as the man in the chair looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theater producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan, and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight,” MTI noted.
According to Stage Agent, “The score boasts such tunes as the scenery-chomping ‘Show Off,’ the sizzling and silly ‘I Am Aldolpho,’ (and) the double-entendre laden ‘Toledo Surprise.’”
“The Drowsy Chaperone was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, winning five, including Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. Nominations included Best Musical, two nominations for Best Actor, and one more for Best Actress.
“This show has so much of what I love — nostalgia for the early time of the American musical theater when all you needed was a bunch of catchy songs that could be strung together to make an incredibly fun and entertaining time in the theater,” said Burk.
Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased by calling 307-268-2500, toll-free at 800-442-2963, ext. 2500, in person at the box office, which is open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., or online. Tickets for each performance are $12 for adults and $10 for students aged 5 to 18.
The Mick and Susie McMurry Stage is located in the Gertrude Krampert Center for Theatre and Dance on the Casper College campus.