City Circle Theatre Company's “The Drowsy Chaperone" at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts -- May 1 through 10.
Friday, May 1, through Sunday, May 10
Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth Street, Coralville IA
Winner of five 2006 Tony Awards and described by Variety magazine as “superior, smartly crafted pastiche,” the joyous musical-comedy spoof The Drowsy Chaperone will be staged at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts May 1 through 10. The feel-good delights of this 2025-26 season-ender for the City Circle Theatre Company are sure to suggest why the New York Times stated that “few productions have ever pulled an audience so immediately and unconditionally on their sides.”
Initially set in a drab New York City apartment, the show immediately introduces us to our on-stage narrator: a sweet, sardonic figure known only as Man in Chair. Although he professes to hate theatre, Man in Chair also has only one known cure for his “non-specific sadness,” which comes in the form of his rare recording of The Drowsy Chaperone, a (fictional) 1928 musical comedy that always puts him in a wonderful mood. As he plays the record for us, it comes to magical life in his living room, which is soon bursting with splashy production numbers, elaborate dance sequences, and memorable slapstick characters. Written by much of the same team responsible for the theatre-themed, Canadian comedy series Slings & Arrows, The Drowsy Chaperone's Tony wins included those for Best Book of a Musical, Original Score, and Scenic Design, and the original Broadway production starring Sutton Foster ran for 674 performances.
Directing The Drowsy Chaperone for the City Circle Theatre Company is John Zbanek-Hill, with additional members of the musical's creative team including: music director Leslie Hyland; choreographer Aaron Malec; stage manager Nicky Beaurivage; lighting designer Drew Bielinski; set designer Tyler Salow; costume designer Emily Hanna; and sound designer Darin Ulmer.
Man in Chair is portrayed by Uri Lessing, with other gifted members of the featured ensemble including: Alex Siron; Gabriel Lessing; Jenny Amundson; Kami Zbanek Hill; Ethan Glenn; Emily Ash; Caleb Haselhuhn; Zoe Murphy; Tiffany Zarifkar; Christine Enderle; John Smick; and Courtney Faust. Six additional talents, meanwhile, compose the Drowsy Chaperone ensemble: Sabrina Duke, Allie Klinsky, Alex Kohler, Sam Nester, Abby Noelck, and Cassie Williams.
City Circle Theatre Company's The Drowsy Chaperone will be staged at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts May 1 through 10, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $19-33, and more information and tickets are available by calling (319)248-9370 and visiting CoralvilleArts.org.
