By Makenzie Mason and
Gillian McGoldrick
Circulation Editor and
Editor-in-Chief

A fantasy of 1920s glamour and classic comedic banters rolled into the Theodore Kloos Auditorium Feb. 4-7. “The Drowsey Chaperone,” a musical within a comedy, is a tribute to the playful American musicals of the Jazz age.
The show takes place in a shabby apartment belonging to the vaguely named “Man in Chair” character—a mousy Broadway trivia savant—portrayed by Forrest Filiano and Patrick Singer. He plays a record of the musical The Drowsy Chaperone and imagines that the show is taking place in his living room.
Senior Allie Wiatrowski and junior Rebecca Allen played Janet Van de Graaff, a gleaming Hollywood starlet who is getting married to Robert Martin, played by senior Chris Periguini and sophomore Chad Wiatrowski. Hilarity ensues, bringing out the most colorful characters: Aldolpho (seniors Joe Lisowski and Rob Clark), Kitty (sophomores Emma Saloky and Jessica Plunket), Underling (sophomores Billy Kraft and Trevor Tu).
The title character, the Drowsy Chaperone, has one job throughout the musical: keep Janet away from Robert on their wedding day. But she is “drowsy” and can’t seem to give a lick of advice to Janet as she debates if Robert loves her and if she should give up the spotlight for a man she has just met. The Drowsy Chaperone was played by senior Morgan McCormick and junior Hannah Lieb.
“The Drowsy Chaperone was probably the funniest and most outrageous part I’ve yet to play. The purpose of the role is to try to upstage all of the main characters even though the she really has no importance in the plot. I loved being able to let loose on the stage,” Lieb said.
Since October, the show has been cast and the leading roles have been working with director and music teacher, Jason Leigh. This was Leigh’s first production at Neshaminy as a director and he had a personal connection to the show. “My wife and I go to the theater a lot and we saw this show in 2006 and it for the two of us, it was exciting,” Leigh said.
“As a director, you have to be amused by the material yourself. You’re gonna be living with it for months. So there was too many shows, you know like pick your favorite son or child. [“The Drowsy Chaperone”] was such an amusing show and I knew that it would be challenging for our kids and I knew it would keep me alert and challenged as well,” Leigh said.
This musical came not alone from Leigh, but teachers throughout the C-hall area worked on this show to make it shimmer and shine, whilst also bringing it to the potential it reached when it opened. “I think the music department and the drama department. It’s a real shared pride among everyone that we’re able to do things like this at the high school,” Leigh said.
The purpose of the show can be taken in many ways, but Man in Chair character Filiano found meaning in the show from the rawness of the script. “It’s about theater, but it’s a show that everyone can enjoy. The show has been so much fun, and Mr. Leigh has such a passion for the show and that’s a really lovely thing because he’s such a fan of the show himself and he really knew what he wanted,” Filiano said.
Leading up to the show, inclement weather led students to miss crucial practices. “The last two weeks are the most critical weeks,” Leigh said.
Students lost a dress rehearsal and a few after-school practices within these last two weeks, but the students pulled through and still delivered a great show. “The kids always surprise me with how resourceful they are,” Leigh said.
“It’s one of the most unique musicals I’ve ever seen,” Filiano said. “There’s no other show like it I mean like it’s part homage to old musical theater, it’s part parody. It’s just a really loving show and the people who wrote it really thought everything out. This show has touched my heart in more ways than any other.”
With many puns and quick one-line jokes, “The Drowsy Chaperone” was a musical for everyone.