A silly escape

When Damon Brown put together Patriot Edition’s competition show for this year, it included a song director Susan Denney had never heard.

But she liked “Toledo Surprise,” so she did some research. She found it was from the musical “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“So I watched it and I fell in love with it,” said Denney. “And as I was watching it, I could just see my seniors, I could see my kids playing the roles … And I thought, ‘I have got the perfect group of actors and actresses that could do this show.’”

This weekend, the Jay County High School choir program will take on the 1998 Canadian “musical within a musical” with performances at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets, which are $7, will be available at the door.

“The Drowsy Chaperone is about a man who is in love with musical theater, but not life,” said Hannah Laux, who plays the title character. “And this is his favorite show.”

That “Man in Chair” is played by Phil Hartman. He’s sunk into a “non-specific sadness” and decides to treat himself to listening to the cast recording of his favorite musical.

It’s through his eyes — and his frequent interruptions to explain his feelings about the characters, songs, etc. — that the audience experiences the “musical within a musical,” a parody of 1920s musical comedies.

“He is talking to us,” said Denney. “We’re his people … And he is envisioning what’s happening on stage. So what you see on stage is Phil’s brain of what he thinks the musical looks like.”

“You’re just experiencing the moment with him,” added Logan Zimmernan, who plays European ladies man Aldolpho. “You’re seeing the show for what it is and what he loves about it.”

The show embraces all of the silliness of the era it is parodying, including characters that seem to be randomly inserted into the proceedings (Trix the Aviatrix, played by Lauryn VanCise), characters who fall in love immediately and seemingly for no reason at all (four weddings!) and goofy musical numbers (“Bride’s Lament,” which somehow involves monkeys).

“There’s just so many parts to the show that are just so silly that you can’t help but just laugh at the nonsense of it all,” said Denney. “Like the monkey number, it’s just the most ridiculous thing, but it’s just fun.”

Though the show is silly, it’s also been challenging for the performers.

For Zimmerman and Laux, it has meant reaching beyond their typical personalities.

For Hartman, it has meant adjusting to a role that is isolating. His character never leaves the stage, but he also is not part of the “musical within a musical.”

“Usually when you’re in a play, you are connecting with your fellow cast mates,” said Hartman, embodying the melancholy personality of Man in Chair. “I don’t get to connect with anyone. The only time I do get to connect with them is when I’m playing with them like a mannequin. It’s lonely.”

His interactions with the rest of the cast — it also includes Laci McGinnis as Mrs. Tottendale, Junior Blazquez as Underling, Hunter Young and Rachel Heitkamp as the initial to-be-wed couple Robert Martin and Janet Van De Graaff, Nick Lyons as Feldzieg, Aubrey Millspaugh as Kitty and Caleb Darnell as George — occur for the most part when they are frozen as he has paused the recording to share his thoughts.

Both Laux and Zimmerman identified moments involving George, the “dimwitted best man for Robert Martin” who ends up becoming everyone’s best man, as their favorites in the show. Those are the beginning of the song “Wedding Bells” with the inspired lyrics “He’s George! He’s George! The best man George” and when George and Robert tap dance together.

“It’s a really, really good reflection of the talent we have within this program,” said Laux. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a funny show, a lot of really, really good vocals.”

“A lot of good humor,” interjected Zimmerman.

“There’s so many different elements,” continued Laux. “There’s tap-dancing, there’s the spit-take scene, there’s an airplane … If you want a little bit of everything, this show is the one for you.”