The house lights dimmed, the curtain rose. Saw The Drowsy Chaperone at the Morris Performing Arts Center. The synopsis: The Man in Chair, a mousy, agoraphobic Broadway fanatic, seeking to cure his "non-specific sadness", listens to a recording of the fictional 1928 musical comedy, The Drowsy Chaperone. As he listens to this rare recording, he is transported into the musical. The characters appear in his dingy apartment, and it is transformed into a glorious Broadway set with seashell footlights, sparkling furniture, painted backdrops, and over the top costumes.
The plot of the show-within-a-show centers on Janet Vandegraff, a showgirl looking to give up the stage in order to marry an oil tycoon, Robert Martin. However, Janet is the star of "Feldzieg's Follies", and a lot of money is riding on her name to sell the show; and Feldzieg, her producer, is being threatened with bodily harm by two gangsters employed by his chief investor. Disguised as pastry chefs, these two pun-happy thugs threaten Feldzieg to stop the wedding, in order to ensure Janet's participation in the next production of Feldzieg's Follies. In order to save himself, Feldzieg enlists Aldolpho, a bumbling Latin Lothario, to seduce Janet and spoil her relationship with Robert. Meanwhile, Janet is having doubts about her groom. Disguising herself as a French woman, she tempts Robert into kissing her, and a massive misunderstanding emerges. What follows is a pastiche of every classic, clichéd plot thread ever to grace the stage, including mistaken identities, dream sequences, spit takes and the occasional deus ex machina, and involving such stock characters as an unflappable English butler, an absent-minded dowager, a ditzy chorine, a harried best man, and, last but certainly not least, Janet's "Drowsy" (read "Tipsy") Chaperone, played in the show-within-a-show by a blowzy Grande Dame of the Stage, specializing in "rousing anthems" and not above upstaging the occasional co-star.
Watching from his armchair, Man in Chair is torn between his desire to absorb every moment of the show as it unfolds and his need to insert his own personal footnotes and vast trivial knowledge, as he continuously brings the audience in and out of the fantasy. As the show goes on, more and more of his personal life is revealed through his musings about the show, until, as the record ends, he is left again alone in his apartment — but still with his record of a long-beloved show to turn to whenever he's blue.
The concept that the audience is listening to the musical on an old LP is used throughout the show. At one point, a skip on a record causes the last notes (and dance steps) of a song to be repeated until the Man in Chair can bump the turntable. A "power outage" near the end causes the stage to go dark in the middle of the big production number. Despite the show-within-the-show being a two act musical, 'The Drowsy Chaperone' is played without an intermission; at the end of the "show"'s first act, the Man in Chair observes that there would be an intermission if "we were sitting in a Theater, watching The Drowsy Chaperone. Which we're not." The monologue at the intermission of the musical ends with the Man in Chair changing records on the turntable and leaving to use the bathroom. The new record is actually the second act of a different musical by the same composer and librettist, starring many of the same actors. "Message from a Nightingale" is performed in costumes evoking Imperial China, with the performers displaying cliched Chinese accents and mannerisms. The Man in Chair returns to the stage and replaces the disc with the correct one for Act II of "The Drowsy Chaperone."
It was a very good production, enjoyed it very much.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
silly reading
One of my favorite books as a child was The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. I can remember constantly checking this book out from the public library, reading and re-reading it. I loved this book, along with other books by her, Mike Mulligan and His steam Shovel, Katy and the Big Snow, Maybelle the Cable Car. I bought a collection of these books a number of years ago and will keep them in my library. I was pleasantly surprised this morning while on you tube and saw my favorite entertainment company actually brought this story to the screen. How awesome is that? I of course had to get the book out to read it after watching the cartoon!
Labels:
talent round up
Thursday, January 28, 2010
just what I needed
(I am being sarcastic.) It snowed overnight, again today, more this evening. It had been rather nice the past week, the snow melted, sun out. That has changed. More lake effect snow squalls, frigid temperatures. Shoveled this morning. Spring can't get here soon enough. Grocery shopped. Lots of frozen food. Up late, watching TV, facebook, snacking.
Labels:
circus
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
a tale as old as time
I can hardly contain my excitement. Bouncing off the walls, jumping up and down. Singing, listening to the soundtrack. Just purchased tickets to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway in Chicago, closing performance Sunday April 4th. I am beside myself and thrilled, THRILLED.
Labels:
anything can happen
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
stacking animals
Opened the door to the safe room and let the kitty join the household. She has been exploring. The other two cats have been inquisitive and reserved. There's been a lot of hisses, a lot of mewing, a lot of stalking, a lot of cat hijinx. Fun, funny, and interesting to watch the dynamics. MEOW!
Labels:
Guest Star
Monday, January 25, 2010
night owl
My internal clock has shifted. Changed time zones too. For as long as I can remember I would wake at 6am every day. Gradually it got earlier and earlier, up at 4:30am. That has changed over the past year though. I now want to stay in bed until 10am or later. Some days I try to get up early. Most days I want to sleep in. I stay up late into the night mostly 1am before crawling into bed. Should be interesting when I have to adjust my schedule to accomodate work.
Labels:
fun with music
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
cycle
Not a whole lot done today. The new cat has me captivated. She is in the "safe room". The other two cats, Boris and Rocco can sense another cat, but have not seen her yet. Eventually the cats will be introduced to each other. Ran the laundry, stopped at Target, watched TV, undecided what to eat for dinner. Just another day.
Labels:
talent round up
Thursday, January 21, 2010
waffling
This is Waffle. She is about one year old, five pounds, six ounces and today she found a home. She showed up on Shane's cousin Beth's deck about a week ago and has been living here ever since. Beth didn't want to encourage the kitty, so she tried to ignore her, hoping she would move on. Seeing her, how can you not want to hold her, pet her? Waffle is a friendly kitty, purrs when being petted, loves getting scratched behind the ears. A week later, we went and got her, took her to the vet, she's getting accustomed to her new home now. Such a sweet, pretty kitty.
Labels:
Guest Star
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
endorsed
Lunch at Steak and Shake. Yum. One of my favorite places to dine. It all starts way back to 1976. Sarasota Florida. The first time I ate at there. I thought it was one of the neatest places to eat at. Young and impressionable. Over the years, dined there whenever I could. Still enjoy the diner feel, the food, the shakes. Still dine there whenever possible too. Thanks Tim and Julia!
Labels:
anything can happen
Monday, January 18, 2010
home away from home
Got to spend a nice time with family this weekend. It was wonderful to see everyone. 100s of words, lots of food, talk, chatter, laughing, lounging, movies made the days. The train trip went smoothly, no hassles, delays, enjoyed riding the rails.
Labels:
fun with music
Sunday, January 17, 2010
iron horse, iron stomach
Early morning. Bags packed. Electronics, books. Waiting for a ride to the depot. Milwaukee. Via Chicago. Via the train. Discovered how much I enjoy traveling by rail. Have my Amtrak guest rewards card, have earned enough point for a free round trip, racking up more points.
Went to the newest Chinese restaurant Ho Ping House for dinner last night. Thoroughly enjoyed pot stickers and beef in black bean sauce. Spicy, hot. Mouth burned deliciously.
Labels:
weekend
Saturday, January 16, 2010
illumination
The sliding glass door room is coming together nicely. New lamps, wall hangings, accessories. A new leather chair, end table, and bookcase will complete the room. Maybe the painting I saw at the store the other day too. Went out for Thai food with Shane and Doug the other night. Did laundry, watched TV (don't I always have the TV running?), Facebook'd (don't I always have the PC running?), went out for lunch earlier, planning on going out for dinner tonight (don't I always go out for dinner on Saturday?), pick up the tickets for the trip in the morning. Amtrak. Milwaukee. Sunday - Monday. Looking forward to it.
Labels:
weekend
Thursday, January 14, 2010
fun facts for the day
Concepts for The Haunted Mansion originally included a "The Museum of the Weird" themed restaurant.
Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.
Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railway designers hunted through actual wild west ghost towns for authentic props.
The large rolling ball featured in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular weighs more than 400 pounds.
Walt Disney arrived in Los Angeles with $40 in his pocket and an unfinished cartoon in his suitcase.
The Jammin' in the Jungle Parade at Disney's Animal Kingdom is my favorite parade.
Lilo and Stitch was the first animated film since Dumbo to use watercolor paintings for backgrounds.
*all information and images provided and copyrighted by WDC.
Labels:
circus
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
slow day
Today the sun is shining and the temperature got up over freezing. Not by much, but it did! The mounds of snow are shrinking, the pile on top of the Jeep left behind in the grocery store parking lot. Job searched, caught up on Biggest Loser and American Idol. Mushroom beef in the crock, butterscotch torte in the refrigerator. HGTV is a new addiction, goes well with my mocha. Been busy today, still seems like I haven't accomplished much though.
Labels:
anything can happen
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
migration
Days are cold, filled with TV, Internet surfing, household chores, reading, day dreaming. Settling into the Winter routine. The mind travels to sunnier, warmer places, counting the days until spring. It already the middle of January, soon it'll February, then March, then Spring and the thaw and a job and a new home, and a trip, and more books . . .
Labels:
Guest Star
Sunday, January 10, 2010
housework
The bedroom has been redone, carpet laid, trim painted, bed, dresser, night stand rearranged. The bathroom has been painted, new hardware, new accessories, towels. Work will be done on the other bedrooms too. Threw a pizza in the oven for dinner, then headed out for movie night. No snow today, lots of sun, cold temperature though. Good day to stay indoors and get work done.
frozen planet
It sure is cold and snowy. Once again it is lightly snowing, late. The day was filled with sunshine and icicles. Did laundry, read, learned more capabilities of the iPhone, watched HGTV. 4WD, Dinner, coffee, and conversation tonight. Thinking about Milwaukee a bit, planning a trip, Amtrak of course.
Labels:
weekend
Thursday, January 7, 2010
feisty
The carpet was installed today. One room 12 X 15. It took about one hour to complete. It is still snowing, I swear it's snowed every day since Winter arrived. A couple of inches overnight and more predicted. I had to shovel off the front porch since the installers were using the front door to bring in the padding and carpeting. And the snow. They did wipe off their shoes, and I followed with a towel, wiping down the hardwood floor after them. Boris spent the time watching them work. She is one feisty feline. I expected her to stay in her cubby hole under the end table in the living room during all the noise and excitement, but no, she wanted to be where the action was.
Labels:
circus
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
curiosity
This is Rocco. He lives up to the adage. He has to be where the action is. He has to know what is going on. He can be a good cat, crawling up in your lap, wanting some attention; he can be a bad kitty too, chewing up the power cord to the iPhone. I have been clearing out one of the bedrooms in preparation for having carpet laid and he is right there, supervising, checking everything out, making sure things are done to his liking. Rocco isn't going to be happy tomorrow when the installation takes place, he's going to have to stay closed up in one of the other bedrooms for the duration. It'll drive him crazy.
Labels:
anything can happen
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
you have been warned
Labels:
Guest Star
Sunday, January 3, 2010
newfangled gadgets
I got an iPhone for Christmas. Well, a number of days after Christmas that is. Always talking about getting one, should have gotten one when I upgraded phones last year. So now I have a new toy to play with. Seeing how it's been snowing and snowing and snowing and snowing (by the way, it is snowing now as I write this), I'll be playing quite a bit.
Labels:
weekend
Saturday, January 2, 2010
another day, another snow
Lake effect. Shoveled the drive way early. Snow was light and powdery. The sun came out and it warmed up nicely, 15 degrees. Debated on taking down the Christmas decorations, still undecided, the tree is lighted tonight. Went out for pizza and a movie. The Princess and the Frog is a great return to hand drawn animation. Fun story, cute characters, lively music, enjoyed it very much. Playing on the Internet, more time on Facebook, and listening to German New Wave music, heading to bed in a while. Most likely going to have to shovel again in the morning.
Labels:
weekend
Friday, January 1, 2010
starting a new
01.01.2010. Sci-Fi in nature, futuristic. On the eve, rang it in at a dinner party in Goshen. The menu consisted of homemade vegetable beef soup, vegetarian potato soup, homemade breads, potato lasagne, bean dip, and pumpkin butter cake. Champagne at midnight. The weather called for lake effect snow, warnings posted to last through the weekend. Just flurries and little accumulation on the way home. It snowed lightly all day, played on the computer, listened to music. Went to dinner tonight, mexican, margaritas and a whiteout. More snow. The two or three inches grew to six, seven while dining. A slow and steady drive home and now getting ready to close out the the first day of the year, it went fast.
Labels:
talent round up
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