Jo Anne Worley, Janine LaManna, Mara Davi to Join The Drowsy Chaperone
The Drowsy Chaperone has announced a series of cast changes in two of its leading lady roles beginning next month. Jo Anne Worley will assume the role of Mrs. Tottendale on April 17, replacing Georgia Engel, who is set to leave the show on April 1. Also on April 17, Janine LaManna will take over the role of Janet Van De Graaff from Sutton Foster, who will play her final performance on April 15. Mara Davi, currently playing Maggie in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, will assume the role of Janet on July 31.
Worley recently played Stella Deems in the Encores! presentation of Follies and appeared in last season's benefit staging of On the Twentieth Century. Best known for her many years on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in, Worley has appeared on Broadway in The Billy Barnes People, Hello Dolly!, Prince of Central Park and Grease and off-Broadway in The Mad Show. She has toured in Gypsy, The Wizard of Oz, Mame, Pirates of Penzance, Annie Get Your Gun, Anything Goes, Nunsense, Grease, Annie and Call Me Madam.
Davi is currently playing Maggie in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line and appeared in the Encores! presentation of Of Thee I Sing. She played Peggy Sawyer in the U.S. and Japanese tours of 42nd Street. Regional credits include Irving Berlin's White Christmas, A Chorus Line, Dames at Sea, Baby, Gypsy, West Side Story and Grease.
The Drowsy Chaperone opened at the Marquis Theatre on May 1, 2006, and won five Tony Awards, including best book Bob Martin and Don McKellar and score Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. The musical's director is Tony nominee Casey Nicholaw.
