A musical theater fanatic lounges in his drab apartment and cheerlessly reflects on the sad state of modern theater, coping with his discontent by replaying his favorite 1928 cast album on an old phonograph while slipping in and out of consciousness. The Drowsy Chaperone — a new and completely original Tony-award-winning show-within-a-show — opens as "Man in Chair" drops the needle on the record. The first static-laced notes bring the spirited musical to life in his living room as he dreamily looks on and inserts his own footnotes to the story, which follows a cast of archetypal theater characters led by a Broadway starlet who's ready to give up show business in favor of marriage, and her domineering producer, who will stop at nothing to prevent the wedding so as not to lose his most valuable asset. The national tour of The Drowsy Chaperone opens this Tuesday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Jan. 15-20, 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 and 8 p.m. Sat., 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sun., Carol Morsani Hall, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa, $32.50-$72.50, 813-229-7827, tbpac.org.
This article appears in Jan 9-15, 2008.