The Drowsy Chaperone Lands at Broadway's Marquis Theatre in April

The musical The Drowsy Chaperone will be the next tenant at the Marquis Theatre. It is set to begin performances there on April 3 in preparation for a May 1 opening.

The Drowsy Chaperone features music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and a book by Martin and Don McKellar. The show stars Martin, Sutton Foster who won a Tony Award for headlining another musical at the Marquis, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Danny Burstein, Georgia Engel, Edward Hibbert, Troy Britton Johnson, Eddie Korbich, Garth Kravits, Jason Kravits, Beth Leavel, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Angela Pupello, Jennifer Smith, Joey Sorge, Patrick Wetzel and Lenny Wolpe.

In The Drowsy Chaperone, a modern day musical theatre addict known simply as Man in Chair Martin drops the needle on his favorite LP: the 1928 musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone. From the crackle of his hi-fi, the musical comes to life on stage, telling the tale of a pampered Broadway starlet Foster who wants to give up show business to get married, her producer Wolpe who sets out to sabotage the nuptials, her chaperone Leavel, the debonair groom Johnson, the dizzy chorine Smith, the Latin lover Burstein and a pair of gangsters who double as pastry chefs Garth and Jason Kravits.

The tuner, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, recently tried out at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre, where it ran from November 10 through December 24. In his review of that mounting, Variety's Steven Oxman wrote: "The Drowsy Chaperone, an homage to the melodic, slapsticky musicals of the 1920s, emits enough intoxicating charm for just about anyone to get drunk on... This is an elaborate show, and first-time director Casey Nicholaw who choreographed Monty Python's Spamalot manages to keep it all crystal clear and humming along. He's helped enormously by David Gallo's ever-inventive set design."

The Marquis Theatre is currently home to The Woman in White, which will close on February 19.