The 1920s will come to life at ARTS/West with Misfit Theatre’s latest production.
The theater group will perform The Drowsy Chaperone this weekend at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. The show will also be presented at the same times on Jan. 27 through Jan. 29. Admission is $10.
The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical that was nominated for 13 Tony Awards in 2006 and won five, including Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.
The show follows the Man in Chair, who feels depressed and puts on his favorite record, The Drowsy Chaperone. The show features 1920s-esque songs and costumes.
Josh Bodnar, Ohio University’s director of Access, Transaction & Video Services, will take on the persona of Man in Chair, and he said he likes the personality of the character, who acts as the narrator for the play.
“This show is really quite funny,” Bodnar, who also handles the technical aspects of the show, said. “The character, people jokingly say, is me in … 10 years.”
The production will be Marissa Dienstag’s first time sitting in the director's chair, though she has been a part of other productions. Dienstag, who is OU’s assistant director of Donor Relations Events, also choreographed all of the musical numbers, except a tap-dancing scene.
“I’m very excited about this show,” Dienstag said. “I do a lot of choreography in the community with local theater groups. The show lends itself to a heavily choreographed show, so I think it was kind of a natural transition to pick this show as my first one to direct because there is so much dancing.”
The ARTS/West stage will be transformed into an apartment, Dienstag said. The crew has created a bed that unfolds from the wall of the set and a refrigerator-shaped portal from which characters from the 1920s emerge.
Dienstag likes the production because “everybody gets to shine,” whether it is through a solo, duet or dance number.
“It is filled with mix-ups and mayhem and a ton of laughs, a bunch of wonderful characters, so this was the natural selection for us,” she said. “It is very fun. I think there are some scenes that might be a little more PG-13-esque, but it is very funny and very clever. I think a lot of people will relate, and a lot of people will pick up on the humor of this wonderfully sarcastic show.”
Having been a part of theater productions in Athens for five years, Dienstag said she enjoys seeing the people she has worked with grow.
“I think that’s what community theater is all about — is just (making) new friends, creating a fun environment and just enjoying the actual experience of taking part in a wonderful production.”
