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The Drowsy
Chaperone
Presented by:
Melbourne
Theatre Company
Venue:
Playhouse
Reviewer:
Chris Hughes
Photos: Jeff
Busby
Date Reviewed:
Thursday
21st January, 2010
The Drowsy
Chaperone takes an unconventional look at possibly the most
conventional theatre genre, the frivolous, champagne and caviar
encrusted world of the 1920’s musical theatre. A world where drama
and reality, which dominate today’s musical theatre landscape, give
way to slapstick and optimistic, uncomplicated escapism.
 The
show takes place in the living room of a New York apartment of The
Man In The Chair, played by the inestimable Geoffrey Rush. He
reminisces about the golden age of theatre as he listens to his
favourite record, “The Drowsy Chaperone”. In a surreal twist, the
show bursts out of his imagination and into reality, unfolding
around him. The cast take over the stage as they dance around beds,
sinks and stoves, using every square inch of the cluttered apartment
space. Walls clad with old show posters retreat and slowly reveal
the set of an extravagant theatrical production as The Man in The
Chair sinks deeper and deeper into his fantasy world.
The Man In The
Chair narrates the entire production with all the zeal of a true die
hard musical theatre fan, where musical theatre isn’t an art...
it’s a religion. The star quality of Geoffrey Rush is undeniable
and a combination of clever mannerisms, excellent comic timing and
unwavering commitment culminated in a truly brilliant performance.
He worked well with an unconventional narrative, which not only
served to further the story, but to sporadically take the piss out
of it. Rush sides with the audience early and says what we’re all
thinking in an often unexpected tirade of sarcastic quips about the
inescapable predictability of the genre. This is offset nicely by
his fervent attempts to apologise on the show’s behalf for it’s
obvious shortcomings, as well as the occasional behind the scenes
fact, that only an obsessive theatre buff could possibly know. 
Rush is surrounded
by a suitably over the top cast of stereotypical Gerswin/Porter-type
characters including the gangsters, the producer, the starlet and
the love-struck dandy played by an accomplished cast. Rhonda
Burchmore as the title character doesn’t actually get all that much
to do, other than sipping the odd cocktail and delivering the odd
gag here and there, but she cuts a fine form and looks amazing in
her beautifully designed costumes. Shane Jacobson as Feldzieg also
has limited stage time, but makes the most of what he gets and his
comic ability gets a good airing.
Christie Whelan as
the show’s starlet Janet van de Graaff gave an excellent performance
and was beautiful to watch. Adam Murphy as the clichéd “Latin
Lothario” Aldolpho was absolutely hilarious as were Robyn Nevin as
Mrs Tottendale; the geriatric old dear, Alex Rathgeber as Robert
Martin; the cheesy leading man, Richard Piper as Underling; the dry
butler and vaudevillian bumbling gangster duo of Karlis Zaid and
Grant Piro.
The Drowsy Chaperone is a brilliantly crafted piece
of theatre. It has an incredibly strong, consistently funny script,
original ideas and a fantastic score. Direction by Simon Phillips
was impeccably administered and the level of detail that was
required for this piece to be successful was scrupulously adhered
to.
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