The Drowsy Chaperone--Original Broadway Cast Album

Perhaps I've listened to this cast album a little too soon after listening to The Boy Friend or too soon after seeing Curtains, but during a lot of the time I spent listening to The Drowsy Chaperone, I felt like I had been there, done that already. 

Like The Boy Friend, this show's score harkens back to the sounds of the 1920s; like Curtains, this is a musical that lovingly mocks other musicals.

There is likable stuff in this score, though, and I bet I would like it if I saw it on stage.  Sutton Foster's song "Show Off" is very funny and well-sung.  Everything in this score is purposely a little fluffy, as our Host, the Man in the Chair, often reminds us.  Mrs. Tottendale's song "Love Is Always Lovely in the End" has some funny lyrics.  I also like the bonus track "I Remember Love" which was cut from the show. The very politically-incorrect "Message from A Nightingale" was funny, too, but I can understand why it didn't make the final version.  The songs for the male characters don't stand up favorably next to those of the women.

I didn't know that Georgia Engel had ever appeared on Broadway.  According to www.ibdb.com, this was her fourth show on Broadway--all musicals.  Also according to the Broadway database, Ms. Engel was replaced during the run of Chaperone with Cindy Williams and Joann Worley.  While all three are primarily known as television actresses, I can't think of three more differing performance styles than those three. 

The Drowsy Chaperone

Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison

Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar

Opened in 2006

Cast: Danny Burstein, Sutton Foster, Bob Martin, Troy Britton Johnson, Eddie Korbich, Beth Leavel, Georgia Engel,