The lights go down and a voice comes out of the darkness, a voice articulating all the anxiety of a theater goer sitting in the audience before a show. Will the show be any good? Will it be too long? Will the fourth wall be broken?

Marlene Inman as The Drowsy Chaperone and Patrick O’Reilly as Man in Chair

Patrick O’Reilly is our enthusiastic host, Man in Chair. He is the one who draws the audience in and tells us all the reasons we should be excited or not. Once he even tells us to ignore the lyrics, because they are terrible. Another time he skips ahead through a scene telling us it was worn out even in 1928 when the musical was first done.

O’Reilly is the key to making this musical work and he does that with an adorable charm and enthusiasm. When he tells us he’s blue, we feel genuinely down for him and we go on the roller coaster ride of emotions with him as he experiences the musical with us.

The characters of the musical come alive in Man in Chair’s apartment and they play out the musical as he plays it on his record player. The title character is played by Marlene Inman, and she plays up the Roaring 20s glamorous star, one who is more than willing to upstage the up-and-coming Janet Van De Graff (Sarah Brown), her younger co-star. She’s both languorous and titillating as the chaperone, helping to set the scene for a musical inhabited by big stars who transport the audience to another
world and time.

Brown is delightful as the bride-to-be, who is leaving the stage in order to marry a man she barely knows. When she belts out about not wanting attention anymore, we see her as the star she is and barely believe her words as her actions and performance belie them so. She has a lovely stage presence, contrasting nicely with Inman in their scenes.

Steve DeBruyne and Jared Schneider play the groom and his best man. They have a splendid tap dance number that hearkens back to musicals of old. They are spot-on perfect with this difficult number and it is a joy to watch.

Olive Hayden-Moore is the ditzy, forgetful hostess, Mrs. Tottendale, and Dale Dobson is Underling, her butler. She even refers to him as Underling, rather than by name. Together they make a fun pair in their scenes, even when Man in Chair stops the record to explain their background or skip through their scene.

Dan Morrison and Kristin Renee Reeves pair up as the producer of the show Janet stars in and his ditzy girlfriend who wants to replace Janet as the leading lady. They each play to the stereotype in this show that mocks the stereotypes. They’re joined in this skewering by the two gangsters dressed as pastry chefs—Benjamin Dennis and Victor McDermott (who was our waiter at the dinner before the show). They did classic vaudeville type numbers, reminiscent of the two gangsters in “Kiss Me Kate.”

Jared Schenider (center) Steve DeBryune (left) and Kristin Renee Reeves (right)

Richard Payton’s Aldolpho was the over-the-top Latin lover who was sent to seduce the bride and ends up mucking things up. Payton was delicious in his offensiveness, playing up the 20s style performance.

Bryana Hall makes a few appearances as Trix, the aviatrix with her plane that eventually lands on stage, a gentle poke at “Miss Saigon.”

In fact, there are more pokes at various shows than can be counted. There’s even an entire scene from a different musical when Man in Chair puts the wrong record in and goes for a bathroom break. That scene mocks “The King and I” and every musical like it.

Norma Polk’s costumes helped set the scene in the 20s and they always contributed to the fun. Mrs. Tottendale’s dress is a hooped wonder while the Chaperone is decked out as a sultry 20s star. The aviatrix is a detailed costume. Janet goes through several on-stage changes in her first big number, and there are several wedding dresses, all in 20s style.

DeBruyne directs, as well as acts in Drowsy, and he manages to build stage pictures that fill the stage and capture the look and style of the big musical on the Dio’s not-so-big stage. Music Director Brian Rose conducts the band and has a challenge of doing so from behind the set, and having several freezes and even some restarts.

Matthew Tomich’s set, lighting and sound design and are top-notch, particularly the sound design where he works out specials in conjunction with the music. The set is also a work of art, a dingy apartment that contrasts with the glamour of the costumes and the acting and dancing that Man in Chair describes. It underlines why Man in Chair likes to escape into musicals so much.

Musicals are not realistic nor are they real life. “The Drowsy Chaperone” shows us instead what musicals are meant to be—an escape, a chance to leave behind the frustrations and drudgeries of reality and lose yourself in something that is beautiful, funny and always works out to be lovely in the end.

Performance days, time and ticket prices.

Other Voices: The Drowsy Chaperone at The Dio will lift you up