Musical scores victory on every aspect

By Jackson Heller

I, normally, am not one for the theatre. Ironically, that’s almost exactly how East’s musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, begins. From the first line of Peter Kiernan’s excellently delivered monologue to the last clap in the standing ovation, I was absolutely engrossed in the production brought to life in front of my eyes.

The Drowsy Chaperone follows the events of a wedding between a famous Broadway star and a wayward groom as a wide cast of colorful characters does their best to sway the outcome of the wedding in their favor. As one would expect, hijinx ensues.

To name a standout actor would be a disservice to the other actors, as every single actor fills their wacky character’s place on stage wonderfully. A few of my favorite performances included Kiernan as the dry-humored Narrator; Isaac Bowman’s stage-stealing rendition of Aldolpho, a rambunctious foreigner with some impressive skills with a walking stick; Ione Berken as the famous Janet Van De Graaf; and Kayla Miller as the dim-witted wannabe star Kitty.

Then again, even in naming my favorites I feel like I’m doing a disservice to the other actors. When I say every character was brought to life amazingly, I mean every character was brought to life amazingly. Everyone that was on that stage brought something different to the production.

Obviously, a musical isn’t complete without the music, and while I am not a huge fan of theatre, I can still confirm that the music (who would’ve guessed?) is excellent. Some favorites would include “Cold Feets,” an excellent tap routine by Ethan Zuidmulder and Sonia Ettinger; an ode to the burnout of show business by Ione Berken called “Show Off”; the hilarious “I am Aldolpho” by Isaac Bowman; and a rousing and sort of beautiful rendition of “As We Stumble Along” by Amelia Basset-Jones. 

Beyond the singing, I’d like to compliment the pit on their great job of holding the whole musical together. Not only was the musical accompaniment amazing, gluing the show together, but the endurance to play for a whole musical can only be appreciated. 

To the crew as well, the scene changes were snappy, the lights were bright (and pointed at the right people), and the microphones were always at the right volume. 

All in all, I would wholeheartedly recommend this show to anyone and everyone. The cast, crew, and pit all came together to put on an amazing performance that made me wish I had seen the musicals put on over my last three years at East. Bravo, folks. Bravo.