Drowsy Chaperone cracks up audiences with comedy
Abby Mykelbust starred in “The Drowsy Chaperone” this spring.
This spring the LHS drama club presented The Drowsy Chaperone, directed by Mel Syverson. The musical comedy tells of a well-known celebrity and a normal guy finding each other and falling in love.
The story begins on the wedding day of Janet Van De Graaff (Abby Myklebust), who questions the love of her soon-to-be husband, Robert Martin (Derek Renzelman). The best man, George (Zach Haas), is in charge of making sure that the wedding goes as planned, and he feels superstitious. George (Zach Haas), suggested that Robert goes on a stroll, roller skating blind. Janet leaves her room to find Robert and ask him the question that her future happiness depends on — whether or not he really loves her. Then, she tricks him into thinking that she is someone different and he ends up kissing her. The drama starts there, when Janet storms out of the park frustrated that her fiance had kissed “another girl.”
Aldolpho (Carl Snyder), the king of romance, falls in love with the drowsy chaperone (Aubrie Hunt) after she portrays herself as Janet, the bride. The discovery of this love affair soon leads into a wedding frenzy where everyone plans to get married on the same day. In the words of George, the best man, “We can all get married in one big club, just like they do in Utah!”
During the show, Tottendale (Aailee Fuson), an older woman with terrible memory loss, spends a lot of time with her underling (Phin Hammond) while he gives her the help she needs. A standout scene is between these two characters — the spit take scene. It may sound cheesy and overused in older writings, but the delivery and reaction of the scene showed pure genius.
The music played a great part in this show. The live orchestra really allowed the audience to feel part of the story. Every scene opened with a simple melody that set the mood and the tone of the act. The music accented the drama and the emotions revealed in the story, making a dramatic difference.
Overall the showing of The Drowsy Chaperone was one of the best musicals produced recently in the community, especially at LHS. The cast was outstanding and expertly captured the characters that they were recreating. For this, the musical earns a review of 10/10.
