The Drowsy Chaperone, 8/18 evening, brief thoughts

Posted: 8/18/07 at 11:12pm

I just moved here to try and make it in this crazy industry that we all love, so I guess it's fitting that the first show I saw was The Drowsy Chaperone.

I applaud the overall execution of the piece, and I think it suits the Marriot Marquis just fine. Another post mentioned that it would be better in a smaller house, I disagree - you need the magic of transforming an enormous space to give the piece that vintage grandeur. Mara Davi was sensational, and my only regret is that I don't get to hear her belt At The Ballet anymore.

(It would've been a fun-yet-anachronistic in-joke to add some A Chorus Line choreagraphy as one of her Show Off tricks.)

But my main quibble was the Man in the Chair. John Glover began as mildly endearing, had his moments of humor, but then he became a one-joke character with some scattered neurosis and rampant sarcasm, to the point that whenever the show gets interrupted by the phone or the power, I couldn't help but laugh at his frustration, instead of sympathize.

The Man In The Chair needs to be more than just a droll show queen - that's easy for any actor to do. The real challenge of the role is to take him past that, and show who he is past all the quips and anecdotes. When he goes into the monologue about his wife and the divorce, it's the real glimpse of who this man is, and why he hides in the world of the musical.

[theminutepast]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 1:47am

Agreed about Man in Chair. I saw Martin as Man in Chair back in January. While I haven't seen Glover live, I have looked at photos of him in costume. Something about Glover's appearance just doesn't exude warmth. He has a grim, grizzled look about him that doesn't suit the role. Does anyone else feel that way?

Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:56am

Exactly. Bob Martin 's default look was "Gosh, let's all sit down and enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa." John Glover's default look was "Why the hell isn't my coffee ready yet????".

[pab]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 9:07am

Today is Glover's last performance. Back to Smallville.

[Parsley]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 11:02am

I found John Glover's portrayal to be preferable to Bob Martin's and oddly more credible as the show queen the Man in the Chair is.

I did like Bob Martin and it's true he did have the warm "cuddliness" appeal but I did prefer the 'harsher' approach that Glover gave. I felt that Bob Martin's Man in Chair, while hilarious, was too much forced caricature and I felt the bitterness etc of Glover's Man in chair was more believable.

Also for me, Glover's Man in Chair gave a better contrast between the saccharine frothiness of the record he loves so much so that when the snippets of his real life emerge, I found them to be more poignant.

That said, I think one of the problems with the show (which I adore) is there is not enough about the Man in chair - I always want more than just the few glimpses into his life that we get.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 11:41am

I'm out of the loop. Who takes over Man In Chair after Glover?

[postergirl]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 11:59am

Jonathan Crombie goes back in for a couple of months while Bob does the show in Toronto. Then Jonathan goes to Cleveland to start the national tour. So far no word on who takes over in New York, although there have been some interesting speculations - Andy Richter.

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 6:29pm

I hope you get a chance to compare Glover with some other Actors in the part. You might be able to make a report out of it. I didn't know if you were going to school still or graduated.

Glover did change some of his script and as someone said, it was his spin on it from his point of view. This was kind of why I wanted a Canadian in the role. Not that it is so different but the subtleties between the cultures do exist.

Have you listened to the CD yet? It has some of Bob's speaking parts on it and it is really funny. I think that Jonathan did a amazing job at capturing Bob's kookiness but they have been friends for a long time. I think it would be fun to play back a friends characteristics back at him. It didn't seem to lose too much between the two of them.

I am sure though, they can find another Man. Just hurry up and make it soon! I'm teasing. They are probably tearing their hair out, trying to find someone to play the part.

I am not familiar with the Actor Postergirl is talking about. You feel aright about him though right, Postergirl? I still would like to see Colm Feore or Don Mc Keller play the part. That would be so funny.

Colm was just in a play not too long ago with Denzil Washington. I bet that was good! This is more of a star position. I wish he would do it for awhile. He makes me laugh so much! The Man plays, "mad" oh so well.

Check out Slings and Arrows 2, you can rent it, then you will see what I mean.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 6:49pm

"I found John Glover's portrayal to be preferable to Bob Martin's and oddly more credible as the show queen the Man in the Chair is."

I think you missed the point of the character.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 7:19pm

I have seen Bob, Jonathan and John play MIC more than once. I enjoyed all three of them. I'm glad that Crombie and Glover didn't try to "copy" Martin. All three actors have gifts that they should be using to create a character, not simply repeating the original "vision" over and over again. How boring would that be?

[postergirl]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:03pm

Actually, Ticket, it was Miss Pennywise who mentioned Andy Richter. He's a very funny man - was the sidekick on a talkshow (Conan?) but I forget which one and had his own shortlived series. I'm sure someone else can help out here. There is also a very startling rumour on ATC - it's so hideous can't quite bring myself to repeat it.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:21pm

Andy Richter was Conan O'Brien's sidekick for several years. Then he left and had a hilarious sitcom, which the critics loved and no one watched (except for me and Craig and some other hardcore Andy Richter fans!) He also had an even-shorter-lived series recently.

I know that Andy had been approached, but I don't know ANYTHING else. He may have flatly said he didn't want to do it. I have no idea. We'll just have to wait and see!

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 8:58pm

Thanks everyone. I know who the Actor is now. I saw him on Conan. He is very funny, well we will see.

Now imaging Conan in the role! I agree, if you have the chance to see the Musical often, that variety is good. I am glad to hear you like John's performance MP. I was surprised the show didn't attract more of his fans? I guess they just watch television?

I enjoy many American Performers. I just was excited about this Musical more because of it's Canadian roots. That was the difference I enjoyed the most. But the right Actor can capture the character, no matter where his roots lie.

As for changes in the script? Depends. If I was seeing it for the first time, it would be nice to see the writer's vision first before too many changes were made. Only if something in the show didn't work for the audience. I know they have been doing re-writes for this show at a frantic pace. I liked it the way I saw it. Most won't notice.

** This is an old thread but I wanted to add that what was being re-written at that time was just some lines for the London Audiences.**

Not everyone can be convincing in the role. I liked Bob's high voice and Jonathan can do that well too. I did think it would be harder for John to portray but I read he had a good theatre resume so I thought well of him in the part.

Colm's all booked up at Stratford, I should know better. Does he have an understudy? ;p
Updated On: 10/12/07 at 08:58 PM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 8/19/07 at 9:06pm

The actual script did not change in New York at all...with one exception. It turns out that Jonathan Crombie is allergic to Power Bars so they used Nutri-Grain Bars for him!

In London, where the script changed A LOT, they also used Nutri-Grain bars because (I was told) they don't have Power Bars over there.

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/20/07 at 11:59pm

They must have been for the London Show then. At the time, it was lyrics. I thought someone said that Glover changed some of the wording too? Nothing drastic. Many Actors put their own spin on a character. It just seemed that this wasn't working as well for Glover. Too bad. I did once again notice, from Smallville, that he has a lower voice and that gave me some pause. A lot of the script would then depend on his facial expression, rather than the frantic tone of his voice.

Bob was talking, in one interview, that he thought the London audience appreciated the comic roles better than the American audience had. I don't know how much was changed from the Mirvish script, so I can't compare. I wondered if it veered closer to the original concept of the show or not?

It didn't work overall but I didn't like the Posters for London. We'll have to see if this new one works. Not my favorite but time will tell. They should have a different one for the tour right?

Thank you, Miss Pennywise for keeping us informed and for supporting the show.

[postergirl]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 12:36am

No lyrics have changed since the NYC opening. The London changes were in the opening monologue to place the show in london instead of NY. Also lines were added about Elaine Paige to make jokes about her height and supposed "difficulty" to work with (which apparently was nowhere to be seen).
The present script and score is very different from the Mirvish script, but the concept has really never changed since the toronto fringe.

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 4:11am

Maybe it was the Mr. Broadway song but they didn't want to say that in front of me? Yet why say it at all than? Not sure. The man said "Drowsy" so I have no reason to doubt him. He was the Director. It could have been for fun. I was surprised myself at the time. Though I knew one of the songwriters was in Town, so I had no reason to doubt the concept. They were working on songs and maybe nothing was changed. I haven't seen the show since then. I will have to compare them for myself I'm afraid.

These guys weren't the writers, so I wouldn't expect them to mention the script. Despite Bob's perception, London just couldn't catch on to the show. It didn't seem to me that it had much of a chance. It is doing better out here. Unfortunately, it's hurricane season. I hope that doesn't hurt it any.

We will see and hopefully Pegasus you will like the show with another Actor. That is if you get the opportunity to see it again. I can see the difference too. Yet for me, it could be for a different reason. It's not a part every Actor can play well.

[postergirl]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 11:16am

Well now I'm completely confused, ticket - what Mr. Broadway song? The director of what? The songwriters were only in London for opening, so nothing major was done - only changing some keys and adding a few bars for Elaine Paige's entrance - all of which was done by the musical director during rehearsal.

Updated On: 8/21/07 at 11:16 AM

[Lynnespock2]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 11:43am

I saw the original cast shortly after it opened. I loved it all, especially the man in the chair as I identified with his passion and his angst.

Sutton Foster was amazing and I cannot for the life of me understand why this show isn't doing better than it is doing.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 12:07pm

There were a lot of changes in London. I read an interview where Bob estimated that between 15-20% of the script was altered. I think that's about right.

I actually made a list of many of the changes after seeing the show in London several times. The premise of the show was the same, but a lot of the lines were different.

Just one example: "It all ends with an animated email on your birthday" was changed to "It all ends with your only copy of GYPSY flying across the room and smashing into a million pieces." (I'm paraphrasing, of course.)

[postergirl]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 1:10pm

Right, I forgot about the Gypsy joke. I hope they put that in the NYC show as it is a much funnier line. I'm guessing that Bob meant 15% of his lines, not 15% of the script. So like an actor, only counting his own lines.

[me2]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 1:11pm

The show has already made back its money and probably earned a respectable investment. What more can anyone ask?

I enjoyed the show, though I felt its conceit wore thin by evening's end. Bob Martin was amazing as Man in Chair, but I don't know how much you can compare him with John Glover since Martin wrote the role for himself. It just might not be a fair comparison.

When I saw DROWSY, the audience was all grey-haired and discussing the AARP magazine during intermission. Eventually, shows just run out of old people. :)

By the way, they also run out of young people. THE WEDDING SINGER was all young people.
Broadway Blog: 50 Amazing Broadway Performers in 50 Weekdays

[postergirl]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 1:24pm

Gee, you've managed to alienate all us middle-aged people. And imagined there was an intermission.
What more can anyone ask? How about a 5 year run with full houses?
I think comparisons are perfectly fair. Just because Bob wrote it for himself doesn't mean that someone else can't play it as well - or even better.

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/21/07 at 10:49pm

I do have you confused, I'm sorry postergirl. The Director is Casey Nicolaw. The songwriter is Lisa Lambert and the Actor who was signing autographs for me was Jonathan Crombie. I hope this helps you figure out the rest of what happened. I mentioned some of this back in April, so I thought you might remember.

Lisa and I'm not sure who helped her, wrote a song for the fundraiser, Mr. Broadway. I read it here, so that is where I first found out about it. Though Casey said they were working on "Drowsy", not to me but to Jonathan. I know some Directors like to keep a tight hold on their leading Actors, so maybe the work wasn't too important. I wasn't at the meeting later so I really can't judge it fairly. I was told she was also in town and she made a few appearances in support of "Drowsy" in NY. I didn't get a chance to meet her but they both told me she was still in town.
Other fans confirmed Lisa was in town, so I had no reason to doubt what he said.

Mr. Glover was in rehearsals when I was in NY and I was told his take on the role was different but very funny. I wanted to know if he was considering going on tour but was told he can't because of Smallville. I was probably one of the very few who didn't watch the show on television until later, so I didn't realize how big his part was before now. One of my Son's watches the show and wanted to know if he would come to SF, so I asked about his performance then.
*********************************************

I guess, me2 missed that old post I made back in April about all the Teenagers who attended the show I went to! Maybe you were one of them? It could have just been the night you went? I do think it appeals mostly to those of us who grew up on Musicals when we were kids. Yet young people who enjoy musicals or want to be stage actors seem to like it too! They were really excited and made some of the Actors blush, that was funny. So, I know some kids liked the show.

I'm not offended but I don't have too much grey hair yet!

You can get grey hair in your twenties you know! So maybe that is good report after all! How exciting!

Well, the Man says it's intermission, though he talks all the way through it, complaining about intermissions, so it just might have seemed that way? I can see how that's confusing.

[postergirl]

Posted: 8/22/07 at 12:06am

Okay, Ticket, now I'm a little clearer. Apparently I was in the wrong city and the wrong timeframe entirely! I thought you were talking about London, not New York. I guess you, Miss Pennywise and I were all talking at cross purposes. I don't remember the specifics of the April discussion - my attention span isn't nearly that long LOL.
Gee, even the Mr. Broadway song makes sense now. I think it was Lisa and Glen Kelly who wrote the song as she's been in the city all along.
Now we're ready to start confusing each other all over again.