'The Drowsy chaperone' will leave you anything but drowsy
It’s that time of year again! Every fall, the drama department kicks off the new school year with one of their largest school productions, the musical.
This November 6-8, the drama department will showcase The Drowsy Chaperone in the auditorium. Director Stephen Wrobleski describes the musical as a “framework story.” He said, “We have a man sitting in his apartment and he wants to share his favorite musical with the audience, and as he plays that music, the musical comes to life in his apartment.” Actress Cypress Smith ’17, who plays Trix, said that it is really “a musical within a play,” as the audience is presented with the story both of the man in his apartment and his favorite musicals.
The musical that takes place within the play tells the story of Janet Van De Graff, her plans to give up her life as a celebrity for marriage, her boss’s plans to stop the marriage, and the chaos that ensues as a result of these events. Zoe Loyd ’15, who plays the Drowsy Chaperone herself, said, “[It] is essentially a farce of bad twenties musicals. It's a very fun and ridiculous show featuring extravagant weddings, huge old-fashioned musical numbers, offensive accents, and more.” Smith adds she enjoys the small blast from the past because “we have to learn a bunch of super throwback moves like the Charleston”.
Wrobleski said that he enjoys the sophisticated humor of the play. “It’s cheesy, but it also makes fun at [the old musicals of the thirties and forties]. Although the show is cheesy, its terrifically funny. It’s not silly humor; It’s a lot of really intelligent, quick witted jokes, and of course there is some slap-sticky things as well.”
To put on a production of this magnitude, the actors, directors, tech crew, and everyone in between has been working since the first day of school to prepare. Wrobleski said, “People walk in and see this thing happen, but there are so many hours and hours upon hours upon hours of time technically and acting that need to go into it to prepare for any kind of reasonable piece.”
To prepare, the cast has been doing everything from understanding their characters, to learning the songs, dances, and blocking. The tech crew also works tirelessly, making props, backdrops, costumes and doing things easily taken for granted in theatre like sound and lighting.
Wrobleski and the entire cast of The Drowsy Chaperone hope everyone will see the culmination of three months of hard work and preparation. He said, “If people want an experience rather than just sitting at home binging on Netflix, come and see our great piece of theatre. It’s very funny; there’s a lot of great music and a lot of great voices.”
This article appeared in the October 2014 print edition of The Bradford.
This November 6-8, the drama department will showcase The Drowsy Chaperone in the auditorium. Director Stephen Wrobleski describes the musical as a “framework story.” He said, “We have a man sitting in his apartment and he wants to share his favorite musical with the audience, and as he plays that music, the musical comes to life in his apartment.” Actress Cypress Smith ’17, who plays Trix, said that it is really “a musical within a play,” as the audience is presented with the story both of the man in his apartment and his favorite musicals.
The musical that takes place within the play tells the story of Janet Van De Graff, her plans to give up her life as a celebrity for marriage, her boss’s plans to stop the marriage, and the chaos that ensues as a result of these events. Zoe Loyd ’15, who plays the Drowsy Chaperone herself, said, “[It] is essentially a farce of bad twenties musicals. It's a very fun and ridiculous show featuring extravagant weddings, huge old-fashioned musical numbers, offensive accents, and more.” Smith adds she enjoys the small blast from the past because “we have to learn a bunch of super throwback moves like the Charleston”.
Wrobleski said that he enjoys the sophisticated humor of the play. “It’s cheesy, but it also makes fun at [the old musicals of the thirties and forties]. Although the show is cheesy, its terrifically funny. It’s not silly humor; It’s a lot of really intelligent, quick witted jokes, and of course there is some slap-sticky things as well.”
To put on a production of this magnitude, the actors, directors, tech crew, and everyone in between has been working since the first day of school to prepare. Wrobleski said, “People walk in and see this thing happen, but there are so many hours and hours upon hours upon hours of time technically and acting that need to go into it to prepare for any kind of reasonable piece.”
To prepare, the cast has been doing everything from understanding their characters, to learning the songs, dances, and blocking. The tech crew also works tirelessly, making props, backdrops, costumes and doing things easily taken for granted in theatre like sound and lighting.
Wrobleski and the entire cast of The Drowsy Chaperone hope everyone will see the culmination of three months of hard work and preparation. He said, “If people want an experience rather than just sitting at home binging on Netflix, come and see our great piece of theatre. It’s very funny; there’s a lot of great music and a lot of great voices.”
This article appeared in the October 2014 print edition of The Bradford.