Theatre that's not in New York
I followed a rumour that there were shows in other places, namely Toronto. So last ngiht I went to see the opening night of The Drowsy Chaperone, fresh on tour and starting here, where it originated.
They've recreated the set entirely, and Bob Martin and Georgia Engal, from the original Broadway production are both here, though Bob is only staying fo the Toronto stop and will be replaced by Jonathan Crombie when the show moves. Most of the other performers were, as expected from a tour, slightly weaker than their Broadway counterparts, but it was the first night of the first stop and I expect several of them to improve. Nancy Open played the Chaperone, not a role I would want simply due to following Beth Leavel. I might have been slightly more impressed if I hadn't seen Beth on Sunday at Broadway on Broadway, but she was so fantastic in that part that I'm not sure anyone could hope to measure up. Still, Nancy made it her own. Andrea Chamberlain, Janet, was actually a Broadway swing on the show, so it's somewhat familiar to her, and aside from a minor issue with the glasses in her big number, help up respectably, though she didnt have any of Sutton Foster's spark. Marla Mindelle as Kitty was fantastic. I much perferred her performance to the original Kitty, her voice was not nearly as grating and she managed the bimbo role brilliantly. The Gangsters were played by twin brothers, Paul and Peter Riopelle, who were obviously terribly excited to be there. They were very funny. The show itself is hilarious, even on second viewing. We sat in the balcony this time, instead of the front row, so it was an entirely different perspective, but we missed Bob Martin's wonderful facial expressions.
We did do stage door, as it was opening night, most people came out when we waited long enough. Georgia Engal actually sounds like she does on stage in real life, I'd always assumed it was a put-on voice. A few people here might remember her as Georgette in the Mary Tyler Moore Show, I know I saw that in reruns at some point. Bob Martin came out, long after everyone else, and there were only about 6 people back there, so he signed our playbills. There was a cameraman from DanCap's website (they're the new theatre-booking company in Toronto that are actually bringing in shows we want to see, yay them! Along with discounds like last night's 2-for-1 and a possible rush/lottery thing for Avenue Q to come.) I was interviewed, which they will hopefully not use, but the cameraman asked me to compare this production with the highly polished Broadway one. NEVER ASK THAT! I tried to be very diplomatic, but it was difficult.
I met a lovely girl named Georgia at the sd who's going to Julia's final show (overnight bussing both ways, and only there for 1 day) and my friend Emma laughed because I somehow managed to find the one other person in Toronto who not only knew who Julia was, but was a big enough fan to haul her butt down to see her. Go me. I should have asked if she was on lj. If anyone knows a Canadian girl named Georgia, let me know.
Overall a fun evening. Now no more theatre until Dirty Dancing. Probably. Unless I ...NO MORE THEATRE!