Monday Night, February 8th at 7:30PM Central, the Opelika Center for the Performing Arts is the location for “The Drowsy Chaperone”, A Musical within a Comedy. The show is present by the Opelika Arts Association, uh.. I mean The Arts Association of East Alabama. For ticket information call 334-749-8105. Below is an article from the Columbus Ledger Enquirer about the show.
Kristin Netzband says even though “The Drowsy Chaperone” won five Tony Awards in 2006, most people don’t know what the play is about. Her synopsis: “The show itself is basically a comedy within a musical. It’s a really great adaptation of how a man sees his favorite show.” This man, who is nameless other than “Man in Chair,” is a big fan of musicals. When he feels a little bit blue, he plays the soundtrack of his favorite show. “The musical comes to life within his apartment,” Netzband said. “It’s really great.”
“The whole plot line is about a young woman and her fiance. She’s a famous star loved by millions who is ready to give up her show business career for a man she really doesn’t know but one she’s totally in love with.” The Man in Chair narrates the play by speaking directly to the audience. Netzband plays Mrs. Tottendale. “She is kind of the hostess of this wedding party,” she said. “No one seems to know who I know or why they are staying at my house. She’s really, really excited to have all these people at her house. She’s really kooky and sometimes forgets there’s a wedding going on. She’s pretty funny, forgetful, a sweet, sweet lady.”
“The Drowsy Chaperone” is done in one act, with no intermission. An early start Netzband, a native of Cleveland, started taking dance lessons when she was 4. “So I did recitals and things like that. It wasn’t until high school that I started doing musical theater. From that point on, I was hooked. I participated in community theater and regional theater. That was the fit for me.” She attended John Carroll University and got a degree in communications and art history because the school didn’t have a musical theater degree.
“It was important for me to go to college and get my degree,” she said. “I worked in an office for a while, but being on stage makes me very, very happy.” She then decided she wanted a career in theater, and she went to New York for a week to audition for shows. During that week, she impressed the folks putting the tour together for “The Drowsy Chaperone” who cast her in the show. “It seems a little far-fetched, doesn’t it,” Netzband asked. “I’m really lucky. It’s so great. This is one of my absolute favorite shows. I didn’t see it on Broadway, but I saw the first national tour that came through Cleveland. I had the soundtrack for a year before I saw it. When I did see it, it blew me away.” She said the soundtrack can give a person a sense of the play, but it doesn’t do the show justice.
“Until you see it on stage, you just don’t know how great it is,” she said. Like any good show, she said “The Drowsy Chaperone” will make anyone forget their worries for a little while. Netzband is always aware that she’s a lucky woman. With so many actors seeking a job, she’s happy to be touring. “We get to see parts of the country we would never get to see,” she said. “We’re just lucky to have this show on a nice little run.” Her contract runs through June and then it’s time for her to go back to New York to go through the audition process again. (Source: Columbus Ledger Enquirer)
