Welcome to Aspire Performing Arts Company's pilot production of The Drowsy Chaperone JR.!
The history of how The Drowsy Chaperone came to be is an interesting one - and it all started with a wedding. In 1997, Don McKellar, Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, and several friends created a spoof of old musicals for the bachelor/bachelorette party of Bob Martin and Janet van de Graaf. In its first incarnation, there was no Man in Chair, the musical styles ranged from the 1920s to the 1940s, and the jokes were more risqué (it was a bachelor/bachelorette party after all!). When the show was reshaped for the Toronto Fringe Festival, Martin became a co-writer, creating Man in Chair to serve as a narrator for the piece.
The groom and bride-to-be in the show are still named Robert Martin and Janet van de Graaf, and the show, which arrived on Broadway in 2006, became a hit, running for 674 performances and winning five Tony awards.
I had the opportunity to see The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway twice, and immediately fell in love. Aspire produced the full-length version of The Drowsy Chaperone back in 2015 (with our stage manager Val Pascale in the role of Man in Chair!), so when we received the opportunity to produce a pilot of the Junior version for Music Theatre International, we jumped at the chance!
This cast has been incredible at jumping right into these crazy characters and bringing this wonderfully funny show to life! I am sure you will enjoy every second!
-Lisa Beth Vettoso
Director
