The Drowsy Chaperone

This is a lively and fun production and, despite some rough spots, has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The show-within-a-show format is well realised. Although Samwise Holmes is well-experienced performing on stage and in the pit, this is his first time as director, and he does a great job in not only bringing the show to life but keeping it chugging along at a fast-but-not-too-fast pace.

All the cast are good, even the Ensmble of first timers. Your dancing fluffy clouds are a joy. There were some stand-out performances that are worth the price of admission alone. First up is Anthony Chester’s Man-in-the-Chair. He is given more to do in this production other than merely sitting in the chair, and this works a lot. His good natured and clever adlibs are also show worthy (hopefully someone will prompt him with the “sausage rolls” line at every show). And there’s a sincerity and joy in his performance that makes you feel for him.

As the romantic couple, Megan Walshe (Janet van de Graaf) and Levi Burrows (Roberto Martin) look and sound the part, and it’s hard to take your eyes off them whenever they’re on stage. Ms Walshe’s “show-off” song is gorgeous,  and I’d happily watch the show again just to see her perform that number.

Katrina Shaw as the Chaperone is perfect as always. She just owns that stage whenever she is on it (bias disclosure: Katrina’s done shows with me, but see this show and try telling me I’m wrong).

The comedic highlight was Jordan Vassallo’s Latin Lover Adolpho. Perfect in timing and execution, Vassallo’s creation is worthy of a Tony award, and was the cause of most of the show’s belly laughs.

And Fernanda Murialdo’s cameo of Trix is a delight to watch and joy to hear. Her presence brightens the stage.

This was a production where many things were right, yet in many departments there were flies in the ointment.

Examples: all the cast had their lines down pat, but some still felt as though they weren’t fully inhabiting their characters.  The choreography by Candice Dockers captures well the styles of the ’20s, but many a time I spotted cast watching others to see what move came next.

Rodney Bertram’s sound design is topnotch – the backstage orchestra being clearly heard but never overpowering the cast. Similarly the trumpet playing is amazing (a hard chart with screaming high notes) but the orchestra was let down by players in another section that were consistently out of tune and out of time. Rodney Bertram’s lighting is as good as his sound, but was offset by a wandering follow spot with a mind of its own.

A major issue I had was the director putting himself front and centre after casting himself in a sub-principal part. The production lost the original actor four weeks before opening, and being unable to find anyone else the best option was for the director to play the role. Not a problem. He did it well. It was the way it was handled on stage that to me came across as self-indulgent.  Yes we know you’re talented, but so are many other folk, and they don’t feel the urge to brashly remind us. This is the second time I’ve seen him do this with the same company.

Hopefully the above issues have now been sorted out. This production has pros and noticeable cons, but the pros far outweigh the cons. More importantly the cast earned itself lots of goodwill because they seemed to be working hard to entertain us instead of themselves.

Peter Novakovich 

Photographer: Glen Morgan