The Snowman Melts You

What'd you give for Christmas?

I'm at the Corner of Lomita and Lomita

Pizza and wine
makes a mighty fine time
if one chooses in that to partake.
But pizza and wine
and fine company's minds
makes merry for merry's sake.

The Odds are Good, And the Goods are Good

It is difficult to begin a review of The Drowsy Chaperone without revisiting the musical’s first line: “I hate theater.” Some have tried. But I return to the line because it best introduces the audience to a musical world where “ice water” means “vodka” and Bob Saget can be found on Broadway.

Technically a musical world within an apartment, The Drowsy Chaperone’s namesake is a 1928 show adored by onstage Man in Chair. The role was originally written and performed by Bob Martin, who portrayed the lonesome, obsessive musical fan with warmth and restraint. Could Bob Saget be trusted to fill Martin’s loafers when he goes on tour with the national company?

A former Full House father and America’s Funniest Home Videos host, Saget is no stranger to the camp sensibility essential to the musical genre. But he has since rebounded from G-rated servitude with a cocaine addiction and a joke in The Aristocrats that stood out from the ranks of an already foul collection. Yes, Danny Tanner is now controversial, which means bucks at the box office for a show lagging in sales (though not short in accolades).

As Man in Chair, Saget looks for a balance between the two extremes of his career. His Man in Chair is more nervous than Martin’s, but this seems more an honest display than an acting choice. Beth Leaval continues to be a standout in the role for which she won the 2006 Tony – the soused Drowsy Chaperone herself. But the enforced wall between Man in Chair and the rest of the players seems a strain for Saget. He just can’t resist making hard-on jokes.



How rude or Cut it out?