The Drowsy Chaperone

The Drowsy Chaperone
Broadway production windowcard
Music	Lisa Lambert Greg Morrison
Lyrics	Lisa Lambert Greg Morrison
Book	Bob Martin Don McKellar
Productions	1998 Toronto-The Rivoli 1999 Toronto-Toronto Fringe Festival 1999 Toronto-Theatre Passe Muraille 2001 Toronto-Winter Garden 2005 Los Angeles 2006 Broadway 2007 West End 2008 Broadway Tour 2009 Japan 2009 National Tour 2010 Ogunquit Playhouse 2010 Melbourne-Melbourne Theatre Company 2013 São Paulo
Awards	Tony Award for Best Score Tony Award for Best Book Drama Desk Outstanding Musical Drama Desk Outstanding Music Drama Desk Outstanding Lyrics Drama Desk Outstanding Book

The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It is a parody of American musical comedy of the 1920s. The story concerns a middle-aged, asocial musical theatre fan; as he plays the record of his favorite musical, the (fictional) 1928 hit The Drowsy Chaperone, the show comes to life onstage as he wryly comments on the music, story, and actors. The Drowsy Chaperone debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto and opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show was nominated for multiple Broadway (2006) and London (2008) theatre awards, winning five Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards. The show has had major productions in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, London, Melbourne and Japan, as well as two North American tours.

The Drowsy Chaperone started in 1997, when McKellar, Lambert, Morrison and several friends created a spoof of old musicals for the stag party of Bob Martin and Janet van de Graaf. In its first incarnation, there was no Man in Chair, the musical styles ranged from the 1920s to the 1940s, and the jokes were more risqué. When the show was reshaped for the Toronto Fringe Festival, Martin became a co-writer, creating Man in Chair to serve as a narrator/commentator for the piece.

Following the Fringe staging, Toronto commercial theatre producer David Mirvish financed an expanded production at Toronto's 160-seat, independent Theatre Passe Muraille in 1999. Box office success and favourable notices led Mirvish in 2001 to finance further development and produce a full-scale version at Toronto's 1000-seat Winter Garden Theatre. During that production, Linda Intaschi, Associate Producer of Mirvish Productions, invited New York producer Roy Miller to see the musical. Miller saw potential in the show and he optioned the rights.