Did The Drowsy Chaperone Perk Up the New York Critics?

The Drowsy Chaperone is both the title of a new Broadway musical and a fictional old Broadway musical the new show celebrates. Confused? Well, this new tuner has an unusual premise—it centers on a man, alone in the dark, introducing his favorite 1920s musical to the audience. The Drowsy Chaperone was a hit in Canada and arrives on Broadway fresh off a run at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre. It opened at the Marquis Theatre on May 1. Did critics stay awake and applaud the show?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

William Stevenson in his Broadway.com Review: "The last thing the delightful new musical The Drowsy Chaperone will do is put you to sleep. Besides being short and sweet, it's also fast-paced and very funny. Best of all, it's not based on a movie and it's not a jukebox musical. In fact, this inventive show boasts a clever concept that is fully realized in its witty book and cute '20s-style songs. Add a dazzling production and an ideal cast to the mix and you have a musical that's as sparkling, fizzy and refreshing as a glass of topflight champagne."

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "Though this revved-up spoof of a 1920's song-and-dance frolic, as imagined by an obsessive 21st-century show queen, seems poised to become the sleeper of the Broadway season, it is not any kind of a masterpiece. Without its ingenious narrative framework and two entrancing performances—by Bob Martin as a lonely, musical-loving schlemiel with a hyperactive fantasy life and Sutton Foster as the showgirl heroine of his dreams—The Drowsy Chaperone would feel at best like a festive entree at a high-end suburban dinner theater."

Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "I understand that this little, horrifyingly pastiche musical started life in someone's living room in Canada. It should have stayed there. It must have been a hoot… There are a few nicely wry jokes; the supposed opening of the second half luckily, or perhaps cautiously, there's no intermission is really smart, and the performers, Broadway veterans all except for Martin, are pretty good… But the show itself should break records—preferably of The Drowsy Chaperone."

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "[The show is] full of wit and high spirits, so entertaining you can overlook the fact it came from Los Angeles. What saves Chaperone from being merely another parody of the innocent, dizzy musicals of the '20s is its narrator. Yes, I know, I shouldn't approve of this device, which implies that someone is telling the story rather than having actors act it out. In this case, however, the voice of the narrator, Man in Chair, is so special it casts a glow over the whole evening… Casey Nicholaw's direction and choreography show a gorgeous sense of style."

David Rooney of Variety: "A witty valentine from musical theater lovers to the frothy tuners of the 1920s, this refreshing cocktail of a show gets the audience on its side in the opening minutes and keeps them there for the duration. Sure, the score, by Second City alumni Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, is pastiche, and purists can quibble about its period authenticity. But like The Producers, this is superior, smartly crafted pastiche and no less entertaining for being so."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "If you want to get some idea of what it means to be over the moon for musical comedy, pay a visit to Broadway's Marquis Theatre, where a disarming, delightful soufflé called The Drowsy Chaperone, is making a strong case for song-and-dance obsession… The Drowsy Chaperone, delivers, not only as sparkling entertainment but, on another level, as a touching tribute to those often lonely folks out there in the dark who cheer on their favorite shows and stars."

Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "Call me a boor, but I've always been wary of entertainment that wears its cleverness on its sleeve… Ingenious as they were, Porter and the Gershwins are worshiped not for the way their words and music impress us but for how they delight and move us. The creators of Chaperone, in contrast, reveal a snickering self-consciousness that dilutes the sense of joy vital to this kind of tribute. Like that other critically adored escapade Urinetown!, Chaperone offers too much winking and not enough wonder… [The writers] convey genuine affection and whimsy in honoring the curious narrator whom Martin also plays and in spinning his beloved tale of a starlet whose wedding is threatened by wacky developments. But they also deliver less-than-inspired snark, including cheap shots at obvious targets such as Elton John, Disney and cellphones."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "The Drowsy Chaperone, which began in such a way at the Marquis Theatre last night, is short. It is also madly in love with the theater, but with a nice wicked streak. And like our guide—called only Man in Chair—it is positively gooey about old musical fluffballs. By the time the house lights come on again, we feel pretty gooey about this new one. Drowsy—already buzzed about as the sleeper of the season—gets a little tiresome and, even at 105 minutes, a bit overextended. But it also is sweetheart of an escapist musical that celebrates the foolish magic of escapist distractions."