![]() Find tickets, info and safety info: or call 70. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. The Drowsy Chaperone, July 15-31 on The Rotary Stage at Andrews Hall, in the Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. The book was written by Bob Martin and Don McKellar with music and lyrics written by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It won five Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, and was n ominated for multiple Broadway and West End theater awards. The Drowsy Chaperone premiered in Toronto in 1998 and opened on Broadway in 2006. It is being co-produced by Annie Bauer and performed with special permission from Musical Theater International. Michael Ross directs this production with Musical Director Sherrill Peterson. Tottendale, Sean O’Brien as the Underling and Dani Beem in the titular role. The Drowsy Chaperone, Sonoma Arts Live’s season finale, has a strong cast of favorite actors including Tim Setzer as Man in Chair, Kim Williams as Mrs. ![]() There are also comedy numbers, conflict, narration, summary, and climactic songs. Eliza Dolittle sings, “All I want is a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air,” in My Fair Lady’s “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.” Characters express their thoughts to the audience with inner monologue songs like “Adelaide’s Lament” from Guys and Dolls. “I want” songs express a character’s hopes and dreams. In The King and I, Anna sings “I Whistle a Happy Tune” when she disembarks onto foreign soil and is afraid of what lies ahead in her new life. “I am” songs express how a character feels at a particular moment. A song may reprise as a story develops or a character changes. They are often expository scenes told with a large ensemble. Opening numbers help establish a musical’s mood, setting, and themes. When feelings are too big to voice or contain through song, the energy and story are communicated physically, through dance or dance in combination with singing. Song lyrics begin as an extension of dialogue and use the characters’ speech patterns to continue telling the story. When the words in a story’s script aren’t sufficient to express what a character feels, music helps voice emotions powerfully. Music and dance enhance the story told in the script or “book.” The willing suspension of disbelief is an essential component.Ī common complaint about the form is that it is unrealistic when people break into song and dance. This agreement is one way the audience actively contributes to a theatrical production. ![]() They know they are watching a pretend reality on stage but agree to pretend they don’t know, to be transported to that alternate reality. “A duck walks into a bar and says to the bartender…” In this example, the storyteller has created a world in which ducks talk and swig martinis and the story’s receivers go along with the reality of that world because it’s fun and there is the promise of an entertaining punchline. When a storyteller creates a world, the audience agrees to accept the given premises. Occasionally, he inserts himself into the action, invisible to the players. Throughout the performance, he comments about musical theater conventions, the characters, the actors, the music, and other elements. The narrator opens the show empathetic to theatergoers, sharing his pre-curtain prayer: “Oh, Dear God, please let it be a good show, and let it be short!” Then, he brings the magic of musical theater to life for the audience by playing his beloved cast recording of a fictional Jazz Age production called The Drowsy Chaperone. It is a parody of American musical comedies from the 1920s and ‘30s, lovingly and humorously elucidated by Man in a Chair. ![]() If you happen to be one of those people, Sonoma Arts Live’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone is the perfect musical for you. Yet not everyone understands or appreciates musical theater as a form of storytelling. It takes many collaborating artists to create a successful musical theater experience. Words, action, music, song, dance, lighting, costume, and set designs convey a story’s messages to affect an audience in the most powerful way possible. Musical theater combines multiple complex art forms to develop and enhance the drama of often simple stories. People suddenly break into song and dance.
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