The Drowsy Chaperone Today (4/12/06)

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 7:11pm

After all the hype on this board, out of town buzz, and hilarious (To me, at least) campaigning ad, I must say that I was somewhat dissapointed in this show. I mean, the cast was great, the sets were good, not excellent but good, and some parts had me rolling in the aisles (The Bride's Lament. That's all I have to say.) But something just dissapointed me. I can't put my finger quite on it, but something just did. I know that it's still in previews and needs work, but... It just wasn't 'enough' from what I was expecting. I try to go to the theatre without any expectations, but I just expected a lot from this one.

But, the positives:

- Bob Martin really stole the show from the rest of the cast. His snarky and sarcastic commentary was some of the most hilarious I've heard since the movie "The Opposite of Sex (If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean.) He also owned the poignant aspect that was revealed towards the end of the show. Great performance.

- Some of the music, particularly the aforementioned Bride's Lament, As We Stumble Along and Show Off were major standouts for me. However, I'm not necesscarily a fan of big dance numbers. In fact, I find dance sequences, in any show, just pointless and random, and a hold up to the rest of a show. I enjoyed Show Off, but I didn't like Cold Feets. The tapping just held up the entire show for me.

- The comedic jokes all made me laugh (the start of the "second act" of the show within a show...) and I loved the musical theatre jokes.

Well, that's enough for the positive. You see, I found so many positive aspects with this production that I'm surprisd that I was dissapointed by it. Maybe it was like when I saw Wicked a few years back, in which the hype simply wasn't enough. Ah, well. Can't like everything. (Although I'd recommend it to a lot of people I know... And I still thought it was better than DRS... But that's another story entirely...)

Updated On: 4/13/06 at 07:11 PM

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 7:22pm

I was at the show this afternoon today as well. I loved loved LOVED it!! I usually don't enjoy dancing in shows but I really like this shows dance numbers. The show was hilarious, the music was great, and all of the performances were fabulous. I see many Tony's going their way this year.

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 8:07pm

I was there too, I won lotto with a friend. I agree with Piazzaslight. It was a fun show, with some really good moments, but to me did not live up to the hype. The monologue at the beginning was hillarious, The ending was pretty cute, and I liked the way that they integrated the scenery of the apartment and the show within the show.

[bdwybug55]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 8:18pm

I am really looking forward to the show and am hoping to go in with an open mind. It is very hard when a show has so much hype to live up to. Sometimes it is better for a show to have some bad press before coming in so people don't expect as much and then end up really loving it. Sometimes too much hype can kill a show. I am just ready for a good time and "Wedding Singer" certainly didn't do it for me so I am hoping that "Drowsy" does.

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 8:40pm

bdwybug: That's excatly what happened to me at FESTEN last Saturday night. Then again, I like dark entertainment more than light-hearted but I did like TMM, Mamma Mia!, etc. (If you want me to post a review for FESTEN, I'd be more than happy to.)

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 10:20pm

By the way, I saw Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Todd Bunaponte, and Lea DeLaria leaving the theatre.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:04am

If you don't like Dance Numbers, that is fine.
But why would you critcize a Musical for Having them?
That makes absolutely No Sense to me.
That said, CHAPARONE is a delight Begining to End.
Writing, Performance, Design , Direction and Choreography
are all First Class.
This, to me is THE MUSICAL of this Season!
Updated On: 4/13/06 at 12:04 AM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:09am

right...

[To The Stage!]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:44am

I was at the show this afternoon too! I LOVED it! Bob Martin certainly stole the show. Too bad we didn't all see each other.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:54am

I agree about the dancing thing. I don't mind dancing that is motivated like the dancing sequence in "dancing through life" in Wicked because they're at a ball, but I don't get the random breakouts.

[BluCat500]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 1:16am

Yeah, what the heck was all that dancing doing in a musical meant as a send off to musical theater of the twenties, and pffft, where were the pop-rock ballads?

[Cenoern]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 1:18am

haha i totally saw you elphabarose, i was dead center in the 2nd row.

I LOVED the show - i wasn't disappointed at all, I thought it was brilliant and hysterical. Can't imagine anyone not liking it.

Did anyone else see Jesse Tyler Ferguson at the show? We were walking into the theater right behind him, and almost dropped dead when he turned around and we saw it was him. Such a strange coincidence!
Updated On: 4/13/06 at 01:18 AM

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 8:47am

What's even stranger is that last time I saw a show with the friend I went with to Drowsy Chaperone, we saw Jesse as well. That was at Secret Garden.

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 9:10am

I saw it last week and LIKED it, esp. Bob Martin, but didn't love it. It was funny, but for me the humor got old quick. It seemed almost like a bunch of skits stuck together, some worked, some didn't. The songs, though, were the most disappointing. Again, I liked it, and laughed, but wouldn't see it again.

[kimmie103]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 9:16am

I saw the show last night and I enjoyed it. It was just a nice refreshing fun show. Nothing over the top, but defintely a cute funny show.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 9:25am

i would love to see this!
anyone think Bob Martin has a chance for best actor come Tony time?
and did anyone talk to Sutton at the stage door? I love to hear about stage door encounters with her... :)

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 9:30am

I think Bob Martin has a good chance for a NOMINATION, deservedly, but not the Tony. I really think John Lloyd Young is as close to a shoe-in as there can be.

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 9:31am

bwayondabrain: I expect Bob Martin to get a nomination for best leading actor in a musical, but in a season that has involved stellar performances by many men in both musicals and plays, it's anybody's call who wins that award.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 10:42am

"I agree about the dancing thing. I don't mind dancing that is motivated like the dancing sequence in "dancing through life" in Wicked because they're at a ball, but I don't get the random breakouts."---RentBoy86

...But then it's okay (in your way of thinking) for characters on stage to randomly break out singing? Unless of course they're supposed to be singing, like at a Karaoke bar or in a club or something?

Maybe you just don't like musicals.

[Actrss100]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:20pm

I saw drowsy yesterday afternoon and loved it!!! It was very funny and the actors were excellent.

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:34pm

Remember that BWW pin that people were talking about? I really think that we need one, since there were at least 7 of us there yesterday, and at least a few of us probably saw each other.

Actually the person that I went with was from BWW, StarsInHerHands. We met on the lotto like and teamed up. BWW came up in a conversation, and we found out that we both posted.

[Cenoern]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:36pm

Yes, we definitely need a pin or something to identify us, haha. That'd be so funny.

I saw some people who won the Drowsy lottery try the DRS lottery last night along w/ me, I'm sure they are BWW'ers (we're the only kind of crazy people that do that hehe)

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 1:09pm

I know what you mean. I couldn't stay in for the evening (Passover called), but I'm going to try to do two shows on Sunday. I figure that things won't be too crowded on Easter and I have the time to go.

[WhatDoINeedWithLove?]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 2:05pm

Wow. I thought "Cold Feet" was amazing. SO entertaining...Definitely a highlight for me!

[WhatDoINeedWithLove?]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 2:05pm

Wow. I thought "Cold Feet" was amazing. SO entertaining...Definitely a highlight for me!