Costa Drama presents “The Drowsy Chaperone”

By Kimi Danaei

Staff Writer

And Kyra Williams

Executive News Editor

The Mira Costa Drama and Tech Departments opened their Spring musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone” on April 26 in Costa’s auditorium.

“The Drowsy Chaperone” is a parody musical written by Martin and Don McKellar with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. The 1928 story is told by The Man in the Chair (junior Tucker St. Ivany), who tells the audience about his favorite musical. As The Man in Chair plays the record, he and the audience are transported into the story and the characters come to life in his living room.

“We try to think of the four years that a student would be involved in the program and we want to expose them to a variety of types of shows, some classics, some contemporary, some dramatic and some comedic, Drama Depart,emt Executive Director Cary Jordahl said. “[This show] has been called a ‘love letter’ to musical theater, so if you’re teaching musical theater and have a show that is honoring musical theaterthen it makes sense to do it in an academic situation.”  

The cast and crew rehearsed about four days a week since January and held rehearsals during lunch once every week to work on the various pieces of music. Cast members worked with various mentors including vocal director Jenny Graham, choreographer Christopher M. Albrecht and character coach Cathy Shambley-Baer.

“We prepared through months of rehearsal after school,” junior Max Orroth said. “We would stay after school and learn the songs and dance numbers until we were comfortable with them, then we began running the show.”

Out of the 80 students who auditioned, only 35 earned a part in the cast. The main factor in receiving roles was the audition, in which students were judged based on their vocal, dance and performing abilities, Jordahl said.  

“The musical was chosen because it attracts a pretty diverse audience, from young to old, theatre-lovers to non-theatre lovers,” senior Rachel Langetieg said. “Also, the characters in Drowsy were perfect for the current kids in the department.”