Get excited, young theatre nerds. Music Theatre International has made The Drowsy Chaperone JR. available for licensing. The 60-minute adaptation, created specifically for performers aged 18 and younger, is based on the 2006 Tony-nominated musical with a book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and a score by Greg Morrison and Lisa Lambert.
The work is a love letter to the musicals of yesteryear, with Broadway superfan Man in Chair walking audiences through the cast recording (on LP, of course) of a fictional musical titled, you guessed it, The Drowsy Chaperone. As the man explains every twist and turn in the campy story of a wedding and its wild bunch of attendees, the musical and its songs come to life around him.
The musical premiered in 1998 in a Canadian production, opening on Broadway in 2006. With 13 nods, the work was one of the most Tony-nominated productions that year, ultimately winning five, including Book, Score, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Beth Leavel (in the title role).
“We are thrilled that The Drowsy Chaperone is getting the Broadway Junior treatment," says MTI President and CEO Drew Cohen. "We know the exceptional work of book writers Bob Martin and Don McKellar and composers and lyricists Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison will resonate with young performers everywhere. Because of its many featured roles and all the signature Broadway Junior resources, The Drowsy Chaperone JR. will fit perfectly into any company's season or school's calendar.”
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Sutton Foster, Beth Leavel (seated) and company of The Drowsy Chaperone
