#musiscal

I think its safe to say that without my friend and colleague Roy Miller, Broadway might not have hosted one of its most unique musicals ever, “The Drowsy Chaperone.”  Roy passed away unexpectedly late last week, and the show opened seven years ago today, so I think it's fitting to dedicate this blog entry to him. I remember when Roy returned to work at Paper Mill after having made the decision to back the show for Broadway. He attempted (in vain) to tell us about the musical and how it worked – then he topped it all off by saying “and Georgia Engel is gonna be in it!”  Frankly, we all thought Roy had lost his mind. Seriously. Breaking in to producing while still acting as the Associate Producer of a major regional theatre seemed risky enough – but here he was taking a chance on the most unlikely of shows. In this case, Roy was right – the show was amazing. It started as a stag party sketch in Canada [most guys hire strippers, theatre guys write a show] to mark the wedding of Robert Martin to Janet Vandergraff.  It was a riff on the musicals of yesteryear using one particular fictional show “The Drowsy Chaperone” as its subject. Being a stag party the jokes were much more risqué. The little sketch was rewritten for the Toronto Fringe Festival with the addition of a unique narrator / character named 'Man in Chair.' The show had two more Toronto stagings in 2001 where Miller caught up with the show. In 2004 he arranged a New York reading to get more backers on board. The show had a pre-Broadway engagement in Los Angeles directed an choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, fresh from his mega-success “Spamalot.” The show was billed as having “mix-ups, mayhem, and a mad-cap wedding.” Roy made sure audiences got just that when he married his fiancé Heather Hawkins on stage during the show's curtain call. Man in Chair Bob Martin took an internet course in order to officiate at the wedding and the whole event was staged by Tony-winning Nicholaw. The pair were planning to get married quietly elsewhere that week, but the publicity surely couldn't hurt the Broadway bound tuner with the inexplicable premise. I remember attending the final dress on Broadway and knowing that Roy had found his niche. He was a full-fledged Broadway producer. The show opened at the Marquis Theatre and played for a total of 674 performances. In the script the show within the show premiered at the Morosco Theatre, causing Man in Chair to quip “they knocked it down and put up a hotel” in a sly reference to the fact that the Marquis was located on the grave of the Morosco Theatre. In 1982 I joined other theatre folks in protesting its destruction so the inside joke made me smile.  The show was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won five. Ironically, proud Jersey boy Roy lost the big prize to “Jersey Boys.”   The show was recorded and in tribute to the L.P. record (“You remember records?” says Man in Chair) that the Man in Chair dotes on, the original cast recording was released on vinyl as well as compact disc. Today is a sad day for many folks who were touched by Roy's ability to connect talented people in order to share good theatre.   “As we stumble along...” we'll think of you Roy.