Feeling Drowsy

When the new musical The Drowsy Chaperone opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles last fall, it earned such rapturous reviews (and, eventually, five Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards) that talk of a move to Broadway immediately arose. Due to the premature closing of The Woman in White, the show has found a home at the Marriott Marquis, where it begins previews today.

While the producers acknowledge that the show’s title makes it a bit of tricky sell, many theatergoers are already excited about Chaperone since it has brought back to Broadway three of the musical theater’s most dynamic female performers: Sutton Foster, who won a Tony Award for her performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie and was last seen on the Great White Way as Jo in Little Women; Beth Leavel, who played Dorothy Brock in the recent revival of 42nd Street; and Kecia Lewis-Evans, who starred in Once On This Island.

The show is narrated by the “Man in Chair” (co-creator Bob Martin), who regales the audience by recounting the plot of his all-time favorite musical The Drowsy Chaperone while playing a recording of the show. As the record spins, the musical — all about a showgirl who plans to chuck fame and fortune for the joys of holy matrimony — comes to life on stage. The wedding plans of the heroine, Janet (Foster), are beset by all sorts of complications; but life will hopefully not imitate art for the actress, who is engaged to marry Spamalot star Christian Borle in September. “It’s going to be a very small wedding in New York,” says Foster. “I really considered having our costumer Gregg Barnes design my wedding dress, but I ended up buying something off the rack because I just couldn’t stand the idea of another costume fitting.”

During Foster’s big number, aptly titled “The Show Off,” she wriggles hula hoops, does cartwheels, and undergoes myriad costume changes. “Before we went to L.A. last summer, I took gymnastic lessons at Chelsea Piers,” says the star. “I had done some of this stuff as a kid but not as a 30-year-old woman. I took a couple of group lessons, but I got intimidated, so I ended up having a private trainer twice a week. I told him what I could do, and we went from there.” Given that Foster was Tony nominated for her two previous appearances on Broadway, is she counting on a third nod? “You can’t help but think about the awards at this time of year,” she says. “I’m excited that our director, Casey Nicholaw, and all the other members of the cast may be recognized, whether or not I am.”

As it happened, it was Leavel who took home the LADCC Award last month for playing the show’s title role. She found out about the win when fellow cast member Troy Britton-Jones called her with the news. “We were so ensconced in rehearsal, I didn’t even think about it,” Leavel explains. “I just love this show, and being back on Broadway makes me feel like I’m home again. What’s so great is how much the audiences are enjoying the ride and how much of the comedy is universal, even though it’s set in this crazy world.”

In the show, her character is perpetually “drowsy” — which is to say, stinking drunk. But Leavel swears this is not a case of typecasting. “I only drink chardonnay,” she laughs. “I never tried a martini before doing this show; I thought I had to do so for the sake of the character. And the only reason I know a Gibson doesn’t have olives is because I learned that from those placemats you see at the diners near my house in New Jersey. When I go home at night, I get right into bed with my kids, the dogs, and the cats. It’s all very glamorous.”

She has another alter-ego in the show: Beatrice Stockwell, the actress who plays the Drowsy Chaperone in the musical within the musical. “She’s a big diva who’s worried that she’s not getting enough attention stage, so she acts out ,” says Leavel. “And while I do love my big anthem, ‘As We Stumble Along,’ I have to say that I also love being part of an ensemble. I don’t have a lot of downtime in this show; in some ways, it’s like constantly being shot out of cannon. During the second act of 42nd Street, I was able to knit a sweater every night!”

Lewis-Evans has the small but pivotal role of Trix, a world-famous aviatrix. “I come in at the end and save the day,” she says, refusing to divulge anything more about her function in the show. “Some people think I have a lot of nerve picking up a check for how little I do.” But Lewis-Evans feels that the part suits her in more ways than the creators could have imagined: “They didn’t know this, but I actually did a play called Barnstormer about Bessie Coleman, the first black female aviatrix. And I have always wanted to be a pilot.”

The actress has personal and professional history with much of the cast, including Britton-Jones, whom she met through his brother, and Danny Burstein, with whom she went to high school. As her admirers may recall, when she co-starred last year in Dessa Rose — for which she received a Drama Desk nomination — she was billed simply as Kecia Lewis. Did she get married in the interim? “Actually, I got remarried to my ex-husband in 2002,” she says. “It just took me a while to take the name back professionally.”