Reading Response to "The Drowsy Chaperone"

First of all, I would like to start by saying that I enjoyed reading (and listening to) this script much more than I originally thought I would. When I was first introduced to the musical several years ago, I thought the whole thing was too campy and simplistic for my own personal tastes. However, after looking at the show from a more analytical angle, I have gained an appreciation for the deceptive simplicity of the show and what it aims to achieve with its meta-commentary on musical theatre. Ultimately, I can’t wait to write my final analysis on this musical

That being said, the flow of the action of The Drowsy Chaperone follows an interesting pattern. The musical begins with the Man greeting the audience and inviting them to “escape” with him into the world of a famous (fictional) 1920’s musical comedy. In fact, in most productions, the Man’s apartment turn s into the various scenes and sets that are used throughout the play-within-a-play so that the Man quite literally escapes his dreary surroundings. In a similar way, the musical begins with the celebration of an imminent marriage between Janet and Robert. Janet, like the Man, is attempting to pull off her own escape by leaving the world of show business behind to settle into a happy marriage like any average young woman of her age. In fact, much of the show revolves around individual characters attempting to escape some aspect of their lives. Mr. Feldzieg wishes to escape an unpleasant demise at the hands of two gangsters, Kitty is trying desperately to escape mediocrity and achieve stardom, and the chaperone herself is just trying to get away from sobriety. Tension results when other characters and situations do their best to prevent such escapes from occurring as a means of keeping the stasis.