Show History

History

Inspiration

The musical parodies American musical comedies of the 1920s that feature over-the-top characters, comic gangsters and bawdy musical numbers. The idea for The Drowsy Chaperone was originally hatched when several friends created a spoof of old musicals for a party in honor of Bob Martin, one of the show's writers, and a friend, Janet Van De Graaff. Their namesakes are used as characters in the musical.

Productions

The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto, Canada. The Broadway production opened in May of 2006 at the Marquis Theatre and closed on December 30, 2007, after 674 performances and 32 previews. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, the original Broadway cast included Bob Martin, Sutton Foster, Beth Leavel and Danny Burstein.

In June of 2007, The Drowsy Chaperone opened in the West End at the Novello Theatre. Leading the cast were Elaine Paige and Bob Martin. The production was staged by the same Broadway team and produced by Cameron Mackintosh.

The Australian production, staged by the Melbourne Theatre Company, opened for a limited engagement in Melbourne in January of 2010. Prominent Australian actor, Geoffrey Rush, played the lead character, Man in Chair.

Trivia

• The main role known as "Man in Chair" was not in the original version of the show.

• In October of 2007, comedian/actor, Bob Saget, made his Broadway debut in the musical as the Man in Chair.