This is supposed to be a review of the Vashon High School musical “The Drowsy Chaperone,” pointing out the flaws and highlights of the production. But I am going to open this critique with a simple declaration: This show is pure fun!
It starts with a wonderfully written script by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, who open the play in the drab studio apartment of a man who’s spending a lonely evening playing the record of his favorite 1928 Broadway show “The Drowsy Chaperone” to banish the blues. Played charmingly by Xavier Ajeto, the Man in the Chair not only has some of the best lines in the play, he provides its structure. It is in his head that this happy exercise in escapism — peppered with endearing contemporary footnotes — ensues.
Martin and McKellar, along with song writers Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, then take us through a wickedly funny satire of 1920s Broadway musicals that is both entertaining and touching. Stephen Floyd’s high school students manage to pull off the satire with keen wit, the music with some first-rate voices and the comedy with admirable timing.
Highlights of the show? It’s hard to choose, but here are a few morsels: Miles Wingett as bumbling bridegroom (isn’t the bridegroom always handsome and bumbling?) and Isaac Hughes as harried best man bring down the house with a rousing tap dance to the song “Cold Feet.” Joy Ghigleri’s remarkably mature portrayal of the droll (and drunken) drowsy chaperone fills the stage whenever she appears, providing a deliciously vamping foil for the other characters who clearly revel in the silliness.
Maria Gilmour’s voice and stage presence are perfect for the leading role of the demurely vain starlet whose protests of not wanting to ‘show off’ are deliciously hard to believe.
The entire cast rises to the occasion to pull off dance numbers expertly choreographed by Rebekah Hall.
Stephen Floyd and former VHS principal Susan Hanson co-directed the play, and their effort shows in the character development of each cast member.
Olivia Mangione is the perfect ditz as Kitty. Ellie Hughes as Mrs. Tottendale plays elderly with spry sweetness; Madison McCann is deadpan as the maid; Hunter Rodgers is subtly slimy as the greedy producer; Maijah Sanson-Frey and Sarah Hotchkiss are amiable gangsters; Rodolfo Flores is outrageous as the “OUTrageous” Aldolfo; Coral Sky belts her songs as Trix the Aviatrix, and VHS teacher Steven Denlinger is convincing as the “super.”
So have I revealed too much about “The Drowsy Chaperone?” Perhaps I’ve failed as a critic, but my goal is simply to encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity while it lasts. As the Man in the Chair says at the close of the show, “The Drowsy Chaperone does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. … A little something to help you escape from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you’re feeling blue.”
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays, May 15 and 22, Saturday, May 16 and 3 p.m. Sundays, May 17 and 24. Friday tickets are $15 and $12. Saturdays tickets are $20. Matinee tickets are $12. Tickets are sold at Vashon Bookshop, VHS office and at the door of the VHS theater.
