#1
Posted: 5/23/07 at 11:17pm
OK. So I was walking down 45th and my bf had to use the restroom so I said why don't I sign up for the Drowsy lottery while he uses the plush Marriot facilities. Fully expecting not to win and then go try to see Grey Gardens, I waited patiently until lo and behold I was the third name called. So we had front row center seats for The Drowsy Chaperone.
First off, let me say that John Glover is one of the finest actors of the age, and I fell in love with the actor from the moment he spoke, but the character of the Man in Chair is a sad and pathetic character, but with enough pretentions that I didn't have any sympathy for him.
While The Man in Chair provides the raison d'etre for Gable and Styne's Drowsy Chaperone, The Drowsy Chaperone by Bob Martin, et al, has no raison d'etre itself, and therefore falls flat.
The show is entertaining, it's cute, it's funny, but at whose expense? The Brechtian attempts to mitigate and distance itself from the stereotypes it portrays are funny, but pretentious. I really wanted to like this show, and I'm sure like many people who grew up listening to cast recordings and imagining what the shows looked like on stage, I see something of myself in The Man in Chair, but I know I've grown beyond that kind of self-serving, pretentious, escapist behaviour that characterized my adolescence, but not my adulthood; and to see this kind of behaviour in the character of a grown man who obviously has not handled his reality-based life well is less than appetizing.
JoAnne Worley was astounding, and it's always a pleasure to see Jeanine LaManna on stage, and John Glover just commands your attention on the stage, he's phenomenal. The show, however, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
First off, let me say that John Glover is one of the finest actors of the age, and I fell in love with the actor from the moment he spoke, but the character of the Man in Chair is a sad and pathetic character, but with enough pretentions that I didn't have any sympathy for him.
While The Man in Chair provides the raison d'etre for Gable and Styne's Drowsy Chaperone, The Drowsy Chaperone by Bob Martin, et al, has no raison d'etre itself, and therefore falls flat.
The show is entertaining, it's cute, it's funny, but at whose expense? The Brechtian attempts to mitigate and distance itself from the stereotypes it portrays are funny, but pretentious. I really wanted to like this show, and I'm sure like many people who grew up listening to cast recordings and imagining what the shows looked like on stage, I see something of myself in The Man in Chair, but I know I've grown beyond that kind of self-serving, pretentious, escapist behaviour that characterized my adolescence, but not my adulthood; and to see this kind of behaviour in the character of a grown man who obviously has not handled his reality-based life well is less than appetizing.
JoAnne Worley was astounding, and it's always a pleasure to see Jeanine LaManna on stage, and John Glover just commands your attention on the stage, he's phenomenal. The show, however, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
"Fenchurch is correct, as usual."
-Keen on Kean
"Fenchurch is correct, as usual." - muscle23ftl
"Fenchurch is correct, as usual." - muscle23ftl
