The Drowsy Chaperone – London School of Musical Theatre

The Drowsy Chaperone was performed by London School of Musical Theatre students at the Union Theatre, London.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This might not have been an in-house production at the Union Theatre, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t of the same top quality. This London School of Musical Theatre production of The Drowsy Chaperone was a pure thrill from beginning to end.

In these grim and heavy times, such a light, funny and fast-paced musical-within-a-comedy was the perfect choice indeed, especially since producer Adrian Jeckells had the good idea to make some appropriate tweaks and take some liberties to ensure the show was also relevant to today.

Despite its Tony-winning successful run on Broadway, Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison’s tuneful score and Bob Martin and Don McKellar’s hilarious book lasted barely a hundred performances at the Novello Theatre in the West End in 2007, and, apart from an excellent in-house production at Upstairs at the Gatehouse a few years later, this was a rare occasion for a London audience to get another crack at this little gem of a show — and what a cast.

As the Man in Chair, Nicholas Follows is much more engaging and closer to the audiences than in the original. As for Grace McGill, she owes nothing to Sutton Foster as diva Janet van de Graaff, not even the high extensions and long notes. As womaniser Adolpho, Martim Fornetti also impresses. The choreography by tap dancing expert Jo McShane is of West End calibre, and so are the sets and period costumes by David Shields and clever direction by Shaun Kerrison.

It’s interesting — after seeing this highly professional production, the Jerry Herman concert at the Royal Academy and Bandstand at Arts Ed last month — to realise that school productions are now often more entertaining than West End shows.  Maybe it’s because they don’t have the same commercial imperatives, maybe it’s because we have the chance today to see the stars of tomorrow.

Patrick Honoré