Josh Palayo and Remi VanDaele work on a scene for the Whitewater High School Player’s production of “The Drowsy Chaperone” to take the stage at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 20-22 at the high school. (Tom Ganser Photo)
By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
With winter quickly finding its way to Whitewater one might wonder how best to handle the cold wind. The cast and crew of Whitewater High School’s upcoming performance of “The Drowsy Chaperone” most likely would suggest a night out.
The WHS Players will present the completely original – not based on a movie or book – silly, stylized parody of American musical comedies of the 1920s in the school’s auditorium Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 20-22 at 7:30 p.m. each night.
The play is filled with hummable tunes like “Toledo Surprise” that might be stuck in the head of audience members as they walk – possibly dance – out the door.
A few cast members recently described the characters they play beginning with Remi VanDaele, who in playing the Drowsy Chaperone, describes her as “very eccentric and pretty much a diva.”
For Gabe Heller, the harried producer Mr. Feldzeig is desperate and “just trying to save his show,” while Hannah Hitchcock psychoanalyzes Ms. Tottendale, a wealth widow and host of the wedding, as “not all together upstairs.”
Kristof Staniszewski depicts the superintendent he plays as having “a faint heart for musicals,” and according to Travis Winger, George, the best man he plays, is “always over the top” experiencing “unimaginable joy and worry as he plans the wedding of two love sick, melodramatic, husband and wife to be.”
Gianna Creanza said chorus girl Kitty “will do anything to be the leading lady of the show. She may be dumb, but she knows what she wants and is very driven to get it.”
If their descriptions give any clues as to the laughter they hope to inspire, a trip to the performance might be just what the doctor ordered as winter descends upon us.
Reserved seat tickets for “The Drowsy Chaperone” are $8 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students. Tickets are sale now at the WHS Box Office or by calling (262) 472-8178 to make a reservation.
