AIN’T NOTHING DROWSY
ABOUT THIS CHAPERONE

Theo Ubique’s joyous revival of the Tony-winning musical
turned this critic into a tap-dancing, high-kicking fool.

Darian Goulding as Aldolpho

In a cozy, well-used apartment, a small man sits in a comfortable armchair. With his brow furrowed and his voice riddled with anxiety, he talks to us about music. Not just music, but musicals. And not just musicals, but old-fashioned musicals from the 1920s. With silly plots and complicated love triangles. Where the moon is always full and the birds are always singing. Where gangsters can moonlight as pastry chefs. And prohibition is just something to be ignored.

The man in the chair is depressed. He is anxious. And he wants to share with us the one thing that always cheers him up: a musical comedy from 1928 called The Drowsy Chaperone.

Chase Wheaton-Werle and Jimmy Hogan as Gangster 1 & 2, Reginald Hemphill

So opens The Drowsy Chaperone, an uproarious pastiche of—and homage to—the musicals of the Jazz Age. With a book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, the musical opened in Toronto in 1998 and eight years later made its way to Broadway, eventually collecting five Tony Awards.

Bob Knuth’s charming set encompasses most of the space at Theo, including audience seating at a card table right in the middle of the performance area. There are vintage couches scattered around and tray tables for drinks. The entire effect is that of friends gathered together in an apartment for a listening party—entirely apropos. It works so well that in a post-play conversation with another audience member, we speculated whether a standard proscenium stage might actually have hindered the show.

Steve McDonagh as The Man in Chair,
Trey Plutnicki as Robert Martin, Kevin Chlapecka as George

As the Man in the Chair puts the record on, the musical comes to life. A pokey closet serves as the entrance for the actors in the show-within-the-show. Stage right, behind tinted window panes—but very much visible (I thoroughly approve)—the band, under the sprightly direction of Eugene Dizon, bursts into music, and a bubbly blonde flapper with her wedding entourage and the groom-to-be take over the space.

The 1928 musical plot involves the preparations surrounding the wedding of a Broadway star, Janet Van De Graaff (Kelsey MacDonald), to an oil tycoon’s son, the dashing Robert Martin (Trey Plutnicki). It’s a full household, complete with a daffy aunt Mrs. Tottendale (Jenny Rudnick) and her devoted Underling (Pete Ruger). There’s the Best Man George (Kevin Chlapecka), who’s more of a nervous wreck than the groom. A Broadway producer, Mr. Feldzieg (Reginald Hemphill), skulks about determined that the wedding not go off because his gangster financiers will not hear of losing their leading lady. They have dispatched two henchmen (Jimmy Hogan and Chase Wheaton-Werle, having a blast) to make sure Feldzieg remembers what’s important.

Kelsey MacDonald as Janette Van de Graaff , Colette Todd as The Drowsy Chaperone

There’s daffy chorine Kitty (Luiza Vitucci), Latin Lothario Aldolpho (a scene-stealing Darian Goulding), Trix the Aviatrix (Lena Simone), about whom I shall reveal nothing, and of course the titular Chaperone, played by a gloriously regal—and regally soused—Colette Todd; did I say “soused”? My mistake, I meant “drowsy.”

The hijinks are far too complicated to describe here, if indeed they can be described coherently at all. Just think of an especially silly P.G. Wodehouse novel adapted into a musical and you’ll get the idea.

Fun fact: P.G. Wodehouse, along with Guy Bolton and Jerome Kern, wrote about a dozen well-received comic musicals for Broadway during the Jazz Age. He would have approved of this show. Especially the title.

Colette Todd as The Drowsy Chaperone,
Steve McDonagh as The Man in Chair, Darian Goulding as Aldolpho

L. Walter Stearns does a phenomenal job keeping this superb cast on their toes—I really can’t pick any individual out of the ensemble; they mesh together that well—and Jenna Schoppe’s choreography is fantastic. You might think that a small space like Theo’s wouldn’t lend itself to spectacle, but you would be wrong.

The songs are incredibly catchy and uniformly terrific, affectionately parodying their source material without ever coming across as mean-spirited. If I had to pick favorites, Plutnicki and Chlapecka’s tap-dancing duet “Cold Feets,” the Chaperone’s inappropriately “rousing” number “As We Stumble Along,” and the gloriously awful “Bride’s Lament” would win pride of place—but only barely.

Steve McDonagh as The Man in Chair,
Kelsey MacDonald as Janette Van de Graaff, and Colette Todd as The Drowsy Chaperone

In between the songs, the Man in the Chair points out well-worn tropes, critiques the lyrics, apologizes for missteps in the acting and staging, and so on; in essence, he is every fanboy proudly sharing his favorite thing, lampshading problems before you can get to them. The entire evening becomes one big exuberant party.

And it is in this fanboy glee that The Drowsy Chaperone rises into something special. Its secret weapon is the Man in the Chair—played by Steve McDonagh in an absolutely stunning performance, as delicate as it is precise and witty.

Steve McDonagh as The Man in Chair, Kevin Chlapecka as George,
Chase Wheaton-Werle & Jimmy Hogan as Gangster 2 & 1, Reginald Hemphill

The Man in the Chair loves The Drowsy Chaperone not because it is brilliant or groundbreaking, but because it makes him happy. It temporarily lifts him out of his anxieties and loneliness. And by sharing that joy with the audience, he creates a quiet kinship with anyone who has ever loved a piece of theater enough to play the cast album again and again.

He is every shy and introverted person who lights up when they find someone who loves the same things they do. Their troubles haven’t disappeared. Their blues are only at bay for a while. But for a few hours, life is beautiful, love conquers all, and the moon always shines on lovers—even in the middle of the day.

And when you can share that joyous experience with someone else—even a stranger—the world becomes just a little less lonely.

Lena Simone as Trix, Steve McDonagh as The Man in Chair,
Colette Todd as The Drowsy Chaperone, Darian Goulding as Aldolpho

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photos by Brett Beiner Photography

The Drowsy Chaperone
Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre
721 Howard St., Evanston
Thurs-Sat at 7:30; Sun at 6
ends on April 19, 2026 EXTENDED to April 26, 2026
for tickets ($33–$66), call 773.939.4101 or visit Theo Ubique

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago

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