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5/8/2008
Jonathan Crombie knows all about "The Drowsy Chaperone," the musical inside a comedy currently playing at the Providence Performing Arts Center. "I was around for the genesis," said the actor in our recent phone interview.
It was 1999, and Crombie was part of Skippy's Rangers, a sketch comedy group in Toronto. He and some friends were asked to put on a show for Bob Martin's bachelor party. Martin was connected with Second City, the famed improv group. "It was a show within a show, in lieu of strippers and lap dancers."
The show, which they called "The Wedding Gift," was presented at the Rivoli, a Toronto nightclub. "Bob sat there with a wine and watched the show. Then he came up to us with some tongue-in-cheek notes on the show. Who knew it would turn into all this?"
It started out as a spoof of old musicals from the 1920s to the 1940s. But the group decided to expand on the show a little bit and enter it into the Toronto Fringe Festival. Martin joined the project as co-writer, and created Man in Chair, the character Crombie now plays.
"We were hacks, making it up as we went along," says Crombie of the original show. But after the Fringe Festival, the show grew again, and eventually Martin and crew brought the show south, to Broadway.
The title became "The Drowsy Chaperone" out of a skit the group had been doing for some time. "It was a hard sell originally," says Crombie. "It doesn't really resonate with a lot of people. Different titles came and went along the way."
The final decision was to keep it. "It is what it is. I think it's a very straightforward title. 'Drowsy' suggests someone who's not as diligent as she should be, so something is bound to go awry."
Man in Chair is the show's narrator, a musical theater fanatic, talking about his favorite show, "The Drowsy Chaperone." When he puts the show's album on the turntable to play it, the show springs to life in front of him.
Crombie is having a blast playing Man in Chair, a part that Martin played for a long time. "I had been called to fill in around the (Broadway) performances of John Glover and Bob Saget," says Crombie. When they needed someone to take the part on the road, Crombie got the role permanently.
"This is my intro to the United States," says the Canadian. "I love living out of a suitcase. I've really taken to the lifestyle of touring."
So far, Crombie's been to 27 cities. "I know, because I bought a disposable camera, and I have one shot from each city on it." O.K., so maybe he hasn't adjusted to all the nuances of traveling.
Crombie's lifestyle has changed thanks to the show. "I had to get a computer and e-mail for this job," he says. He's not a fan of e-mail. "One 'Smile of the Day' from anyone I know and you're cut off. I see people chained to Hotmail all day long. This is not what's meant to be."
"The Drowsy Chaperone" runs through May 11 at the Providence Performing Arts Center. For tickets, call 401-421-ARTS, or log onto ppacri.org for more details.
