Dio opens “Drowsy” with dinner this week
Well…the term gay wedding has a different meaning, now. But in the 1920s, it just meant fun. And that’s exactly what The Drowsy Chaperone is. FUN!
Marlene Inman as “The Drowsy Chaperone”
The Dio – Dining & Entertainment, Livingston County’s only professional dinner theatre, is presenting The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical comedy by Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, Bob Martin and Don McKellar. The show is directed by Steve DeBruyne, with musical direction by Brian Rose and choreography by Kristin Renee Reeves.
With the houselights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and The Drowsy Chaperone begins as the man in the chair looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a not so bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight.
Hailed by New York Magazine as, “The Perfect Broadway Musical” The Drowsy Chaperone is a masterful meta-musical, poking fun at all the tropes that characterize the musical theatre genre. Winner of 5 TONY Awards (including Best Book and Best Original Score), The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving send-up of the Jazz age musical featuring one show-stopping song and dance number after another.
The cast of The Drowsy Chaperone features performances by Patrick O’Reilly, Olive Hayden-Moore, Dale Dobson, Steve DeBruyne, Jared Schneider, Dan Morrison, Kristin Renee Reeves, Benjamin Dennis, Victor McDermott, Richard Payton, Sarah Brown, Marlene Inman, Bryana Hall, Lydia Adams, Lauren Bryne and Stephen Dean.
All tickets include The Dio’s dinner buffet, a non-alcoholic beverage, dessert and the show. The menu for The Drowsy Chaperone will include fresh, homemade bread sticks, house salad, a fresh mix of seasonal vegetables steamed and tossed in butter, Italian sausage sautéed to perfection with peppers and onions, and The Dio’s signature boneless chicken breast, hand battered and fried to a golden brown.