There are screwball mix ups, lots of mayhem and a jolly happy wedding all set to a wonderful score of songs. It all unfolds as a middle-aged, asocial musical theatre fan cheers himself up by playing the record of his favorite musical, the 1928 hit The Drowsy Chaperone, and then the show comes to life onstage as he wryly comments on the music, story and actors. This show-within-a-show story is a parody of 1920s corny musical plots and the theatre world overall. The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical based on the book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, is a musical within a comedy. Fessler also adds that anyone who is part of theatre will really enjoy the storyline as it is a comical parody of musicals, performing and being an impassioned audience member. “If I had to guarantee the audience will laugh hysterically, it would be at this is musical,” said director and theatre teacher Rob Fessler. Even seasoned theatre devotees may not know the show, and what luck for the thrill of finding a gem like The Drowsy Chaperone awaits as the Manhasset High School Theater presents the musical next month. Indeed, it just might be the best Broadway musical you never heard of. That musical is The Drowsy Chaperone…to which most people response, ‘What? Never heard of it!’ A show with over thirty Broadway and London theatre award nominations, and a clever story that both honors and spoofs the golden age of ’20s musicals.

Like a musical that has won five Tony Awards, including best book and score, that has upbeat, catchy, fun songs that the audience hums long after the performance.

There is something extra special about discovering a gem of a musical for the first time.

Drowsy chaperone broadway awards