What Happened to "The Drowsy Chaperone?"- Page 2
What Happened to "The Drowsy Chaperone?"
#25I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 9:27pm
The Drowsy Chaperone has one of the greatest origin stories of any show to make it to Broadway in the last 50 years. It was a wedding gift to Bob Martin and his wife, Janet Van der Graff from a group of their friends. It played exactly one night, for forty minutes in a tiny theater in the back of a bar on Queen Street in Toronto and from that tiny beginning, an award-winning Broadway show was born.
Talk about the little show that could.
Let's celebrate the fact they made it there, made a profit and made an impression (and made Bob Martin into a certified star).
That's way enough for me!
#26I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 9:33pmSmax, Spelling Bee is based off of a sketch an improv show. Don't remember the name. Was it "C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E" ?
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#27I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 9:41pmThe stagehand's strike also contributed to it's closing.
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#28I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 9:45pmYea, the strike didn't help it any. I doubt things would have been different if the strike didn't happen.
BkCollector
Broadway Star Joined: 2/6/08
#29I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 9:45pm
I really expected it to be charming, but I found it pretty distasteful.
Gay jokes/asian jokes/latino jokes/drunk jokes, all without a redeeming punchline.
COOOOLkid
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
#30I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 9:49pm
Doyle is overrated.
Coming from a person that is deeply in love with Natalie Weiss or whatever that unknown girl's name is.
Q is very loosely based on Sesame Street just like Wicked is loosely based on the novel.
And Winston, if you're going to try and be a know-it-all, at least try to say something that makes sense.
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#31I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 9:56pmWell if that's not the pot calling the kettle, I don't know what is.
puppetman2
Leading Actor Joined: 3/2/08
#32I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 11:41pmDidn't see DROWSEY on Broadway, but the touring company was terrific. One problem might be the title. Most of my adult students didn't think a show with that title could be good. After the review in out paper and word of mouth they were sorry they missed it.
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#33I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/2/08 at 11:46pmC-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E developed directly into Putnam County Spelling Bee. It's not like it was some established hit as a straight play.
miss pennywise
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/04
#34I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/3/08 at 12:07am
It also won a sh!tload of awards...not that awards "prove" anything, but to say it wasn't "popular" is pretty inaccurate.
I saw the show many times over the course of its run, including the last performance, and was never disappointed. How can anyone say that it was "dreary" later in the run without having SEEN it even once during that time? If you actually SAW it and felt that way, fine, but to say, "I heard plenty" and make it sound like "fact" is irrational.
That goes for ANY show, event or experience! 
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
**********
"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars
#35I Challenge Winston
Posted: 4/3/08 at 2:08am
I was very disappointed when it closed in December on Broadway. I wanted to see it again. It does have plenty of jokes based on ethnicity but I thought it just mocked our own misconceptions from that period in time.
To me, it had a stellar cast who really played up their parts. I just felt the advertising went south, they lost confidence in what it was and this confused patrons. I always hear people questioning what The Drowsy Chaperone is all about?
It is just a lot of fun to me and we are waiting anxiously for the Tour to come to SF! Plenty of shows that take life seriously. This show rides on the ridiculous with quite a few catchy tunes. So much of it too, echoed the irony of life as we get older and I enjoyed the funny way they pulled it together.
I also loved the creative sets and beautiful costumes in the show. I'm sorry you couldn't see it in New York but people from across the Country have been giving the Tour great reviews. It is what it is and never tries to pretend to ever be taken seriously.
Hopefully you can catch the show on Tour. The cast right now is a good fit it seems? I think the touring cast will change in the Fall? I read about try-outs for replacements. It looks like they are booking up for next year, so it may be zig-zagging it's way back East after its West Coast run? That's promising too.
My friend and I have already bought our tickets for the LA run and plan on seeing it once a week when it hits SF. I can't wait to see how my kids feel about, after seeing it on stage. They are still skeptical but I expect them to be pleasantly surprised. It's such a funny show and I am ready for a little bit of silly fun coming our way this Summer.
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