Des Moines Community Playhouse Presents DROWSY CHAPERONE, 9/10-10/3

The Des Moines Community Playhouse presents the award-winning musical comedy, "The Drowsy Chaperone," Friday, Sept. 10-Sunday, Oct. 3. Tickets may be purchased at The Playhouse ticket office, 831 42nd St.; by phone at 515-277-6261; and online at www.dmplayhouse.com. "The Drowsy Chaperone" is sponsored by Principal Financial Group.

The Playhouse invites you to disappear into the decadent world of the 1920s, when the champagne flowed while the caviar chilled, and all the world was a party. "The Drowsy Chaperone" all begins when a die-hard musical-theater fan, known as Man in Chair and played by Jim Benda, puts his favorite cast album on his turntable. The musical literally bursts to life in his living room, telling the rambunctious tale of a brazen Broadway starlet, Janet Van De Graaff, played by Lauren Baker, trying to find, and keep, her true love.

The show, billed as a musical within a comedy, features an eclectic cast of characters, including the dashing bridegroom, oil tycoon Robert Martin, played by Nicholas Root, and his best man, George, played by Mark Morrison; Mrs. Tottendale, a wealthy dowager, and her butler, Underling, played by Debi Garner and Steve Betz; Latin lothario Aldolpho, played by Nick Toussaint; Feldzieg, a Big Broadway Producer, played by Gregory Millar; Kitty, a ditzy chorine, played by Alexandra Beem; Trix, the brash aviatrix, played by Renee Schwarz; a pair of gangsters posing as pastry chefs, played by Peter Dean and Jim Kolnik; and, of course, the bride's tipsy chaperone,
played by Sue Tell.

"The Drowsy Chaperone" won several 2006 Tony Awards, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical. Originally created by a group of Canadian comedians as a wedding gift for friends, it caught the eye of a producer attending the Toronto Fringe Festival and was expanded into a Big Broadway Musical.

The Playhouse is Iowa's oldest and largest producing theatre. Located at the 42nd Street exit of I-235, the theatre has presented a full season of shows since 1919 and also offers a wide variety of educational experiences including classes for ages 4 to adult, theatre trips to New York, and volunteer opportunities onstage and backstage.

For more information about The Playhouse and "The Drowsy Chaperone," contact The Playhouse ticket office at 515-277-6261.

Photo Credit: Steve Gibbons