Geoffrey Rush to Take a Seat in Drowsy Chaperone Film

Tony and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush is eyeing the leading narrator role of Man in Chair in a film adaptation of The Drowsy Chaperone, according to Canada's Globe and Mail. Rush played the role in an Australian production of the musical at the Melbourne Theatre Company earlier this year. Don McKellar is set to direct and adapt his Tony-winning book (co-written with original star Bob Martin) for the screen. No release or start date for the film has been announced.

Rush's many film credits include Shine, Munich, Intolerable Cruelty, Finding Nemo, The Pirates of the Carribean trilogy, Shakespeare in Love, Frida, Quills, The Banger Sisters, Elizabeth and Mystery Men. He received a Tony Award for his Broadway debut in Exit the King in 2009.

Featuring a Tony winning score by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, The Drowsy Chaperone follows a musical theater fan who recounts the romantic entanglements of a classic movie star from his favorite fictional musical. Using creative stagecraft, the show within a show comes to life in the narrator's apartment. The Drowsy Chaperone opened on Broadway on May 1, 2006, and ran for 674 performances at the Marquis Theatre. The show receieved 13 Tony nominations and took home four awards, including a win for featured actress Beth Leavel.