Theater Review: "The Drowsy Chaperone" at The Taft School

The Taft School is proudly presenting a big and delightful production of “The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical within a musical.” The high school students are under the direction of Helena Fifer with musical direction by T.J. Thompson.

“Drowsy Chaperone” is a fun (and unique) musical with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and a book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar.

Sijie Yan leads the cast in the role called Man in the Chair. This young actor gives a great performance, nailing most of the clever comedy in his lines. Elle Smiley is adorably silly in the role of Mrs. Tottendale, an eccentric,wealthy widow and host of the wedding, in fabulous costumes and Nam Dao covers the role of her butler “Underling.”

What a treat it was for me to see Claire Roberts play the role of Janet (“I Don’t Wanna Show Off”) Van de Graaff, the vivacious 1920’s starlet. I can proudly say that I have watched this young performer grow up on the stage of Blessed Sacrament Children’s Theatre and here she shows off all of her talents in this starring role. Roberts has the most costume changes, some of them on the stage.

Kyla O’Byrne tackles the title role, in sumptuous ensembles and a big singing voice.

Isaac Obeng sings and dances well in a smart white suit in the role of the groom-to-be, Robert Martin. His very tall best man George is played by Jabari King and the duo tap together in synch for their duet “Cold Feet” (pictured above.) Oh, and did I mention that Obeng also gets to roller skate in the garden?

Jackson Almasian wears a straw hat and white pinstripe suit to portray harried producer Feldzieg and Marina Tanaka is delightfully ditzy in the role of Kitty.

Daniel Kaminju and Hannah Englander work well together as two gangsters disguised as pastry chefs. Vincent Chen gets to chew the scenery in the over-the-top role of Aldolpho, a womanizing cad, wearing purple pants and a swirling cape.

Trix the Aviatrix is played by Sabrina Moffa and the superintendent of The Man in the Chair’s apartment building is played by Sally Higgins in one of the final scenes

The clever set design, which includes a drop-down Murphy bed, was designed by Kate Kovacs. Lighting design by Emily Sherer works well. Technical direction by Matt Jandreau is also very good.

The musicians in the “Pit of Despair” are conducted by Thompson who plays keyboard. Leo Lavallee plays trumpet 1. The pit has a great big band sound under Thompson’s able direction.

The choreography by Sarah Surber and Amber Cameron bring the song and dance numbers to life and the dancers pull it off well. The wonderful dancers and singers in the ensemble include Grace Deng (captain,) Ruby Dawson, Alex He, Heidi Li, Sarah Li, Melissa Maselli, Ava Payne, Natalie Shyika, Eden Thompson, Yolanda Wang and Yolanda Wei.

The costumes and wig design for this high school production by Lesley Bowman is quite impressive in its richness and fidelity to the time period. Several of the leading players have multiple costume changes, each more beautiful than the last. There are coats trimmed in fur, period wigs and cloche hats for members of the ensemble. I can’t remember a recent show where the members of the chorus were so well dressed. The cast thanks Cindy Fabian, Gina Ludlow and Alex Ludlow, those “who powder our noses, primp our hair and fix our boutonnieres.”

Sound my Chip Machokas works well for most of the show, although I had a bit of trouble making out a few of the lines.

The show poster was designed by Isabelle Nacimento. Support for the show is provided by the James G. Franciscus Theater Fund and James Hollyday Webb Theater Fund. These special memorials pay lasting tribute to two Taft alumni who found great joy in their love for the theater and acting.

The show is presented with no intermission and runs about 90 minutes. Be sure to silence your cell phone, for the Man in the Chair has a short fuse when it comes to interruptions.

The students performed during last weekend's Fall Family Weekend 2022. There is one remaining (free) performance scheduled for Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bingham Auditorium on the Taft campus.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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