February 10, 2012
Cowley to present spring play, The Drowsy Chaperone
spring play
Characterized as a musical within a comedy, Cowley College will present the spring play The Drowsy Chaperone March 8-10 in the Robert Brown Theatre. Each show will be performed at 7:30 p.m. and the cost is $8 for adults, $5 for students or $20 for the dinner and show combo offered on Friday and Saturday night.
Tickets go on sale Monday, Feb. 13 and can be purchased at the Cowley Box Office or by calling 620-441-5570. To purchase tickets online or to view the menu, go to www.cowley.edu/boxoffice
Scott MacLaughlin, director of theatre at Cowley College, first learned of The Drowsy Chaperone when he joined the college’s Act One Drama Club for an educational trip to London in 2008. While in London, the students had a chance to see a live performance of the show, which debuted in 1998 and opened on Broadway in 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. MacLaughlin fell in love with the story and the show.
“I thought it was extremely creatively written and the music and characters were great,” MacLaughlin said. “I love doing good shows that a lot of people around here might not have seen.”
MacLaughlin said the show is narrated by The Man in Chair, who when he gets the blues, likes to listen to old records his mother passed down to him. As he listens to a recording of a fictional 1928 musical comedy, The Drowsy Chaperone, he is transported into the musical. The characters appear in his apartment, and it is then transformed into an impressive sets and backdrops.
Once again, MacLaughlin will rely on the talents of Jamison Rhoads, Cowley College technical director of theatre, to transform the apartment.
“It’s a difficult design because you have to transform a small space into the musical,” MacLaughlin said.
Along with the work being done by MacLaughlin and Rhoads, Jennifer Blatchford is working with some of the students on a tap routine. Vocal music director Connie Donatelli is working with the cast on the vocal part of the play, while instrumental music instructor Josh Fleig is helping with the pit orchestra.
MacLaughlin is looking forward to the show and believes the audience will be thoroughly entertained.
“It will be a good evening of entertainment and way for us to showcase our students’ talent,” MacLaughlin said. “They have worked very hard in order to do the best they can do.”
Cast:
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