(MIDDLETOWN, NJ) -- The MAC Players at the Middletown Arts Center presents the musical within a comedy, The Drowsy Chaperone, over two weekends, February 28 – March 9, 2025. An accomplished, live orchestra will accompany The MAC Players, led by Director Kate Cordaro, Musical Director Eric Sayre and Choreographer Samantha Amaral.
The Tony Award-winning The Drowsy Chaperone brings to life a forgotten Jazz Age Musical in the living room of a diehard theatre fan. With the house lights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and The Drowsy Chaperone begins as the man in the chair looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight. The Drowsy Chaperone is a masterful meta-musical, poking fun at all the tropes that characterize the musical theater genre.
The MAC Players production features Kevin McGee (The Man in Chair), Meredith Buchholtz (The Drowsy Chaperone), Elizabeth Molfetto (Janet Van De Graaff), Renee Green (Mrs. Tottendale), Justin Grossman (Underling), Patrick Comey (Robert Martin), Brenden Kortenhaus (George), Justin Jajalla (Aldolfo), Colleen Gilgan (Kitty), Trish Tyler (Gangster 1), Jeni Star (Gangster 2), John Paul Durazzo (Mr. Feldzieg), Jessica Vincello (Trix), Madison Steinert-Santangelo (Ensemble), Kimberly Gelfand (Ensemble), Jazmynn Perez (Ensemble), Anna Blaine (Ensemble), Thomas Fulbrook (Ensemble/Superintendent), Brittany Ahr (Ensemble) and Natalie Dunn (Ensemble).
Performances take place Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1 at 7:00pm | Sunday, March 2 at 2:00pm; Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 at 7:00pm | Sunday, March 9 at 2:00pm. Ticket prices range from $17.50–$32.50 ($5 student/senior discount) with reserved seating. Purchase tickets online at middletownarts.org or call the MAC Box Office at 732.706.4100. The Middletown Arts Center is located at 36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ (next to the Middletown Train Station). Free parking is available onsite with additional free parking available in the station-metered lot on weekday evenings after 6:00pm and on weekends.
Hailed by New York Magazine as "The perfect Broadway Musical," The Drowsy Chaperone's original Broadway run was produced by Kevin McCollum, Roy Miller, Bob Boyett, Stephanie McClelland, Barbara Freitag and Jill Furman.
The Middletown Arts Center (MAC) is an award-winning, state-of-the-art facility in Middletown, New Jersey that offers performances, exhibits, classes, demonstrations and camps centering on the arts. Its convenient location across from the Middletown train station on Church Street enables easy access and its expanded MAC Annex Education Building is minutes away next to the Middletown Reformed Church. The MAC is operated by a non-profit 501c3, the Middletown Township Cultural and Arts Council dedicated to bringing quality arts programming and events to Middletown and surrounding communities. Visit middletownarts.org for more information and to join their mailing list for updates on classes, camps and activities at the Middletown Arts Center.
