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<p>The character Sean Lickers plays in &#8220;The Drowsy Chaperone&#8221; is called simply &#8220;Man in Chair&#8221; &#8212; and that reveals a lot about his limited life.</p><p>Man in Chair tends to stay in his apartment, said Lickers, 20, a theatre major from Wilkes-Barre, and the character admits early on he&#8217;s not happy.</p><p>&#8220;He doesn&#8217;t like other people,&#8221; said associate professor of theatre Dave Reynolds, who is directing the musical-within-a-comedy show at King&#8217;s College Oct. 2 through Oct. 6.</p><p>Man in Chair&#8217;s dull life explodes into vicarious color and excitement whenever he plays his favorite recording, the soundtrack from a breezy 1928 musical called &#8220;The Drowsy Chaperone.&#8221;</p><p>As the characters from the fictional musical step into and enliven his apartment, the audience will be treated to exaggerated gestures and dance moves, similar to what you might see in a vintage silent movie.</p><p>&#8220;The characters are so ridiculous, and they feed off each other,&#8221; said Mikayla Acree, 20, a marketing major from Parsippany, N.J., who choreographed the show with fellow cast member Stephanie Kleinfelder, 19, an early childhood/special ed major from Langhorne.</p><p>&#8220;We have two student choreographers,&#8221; Reynolds said, &#8220;and they&#8217;re totally killing it.&#8221;</p><p>The frothy fun in &#8220;The Drowsy Chaperone&#8221; centers around an actress, Janet Van de Graaff, who is on the verge of giving up her career in favor of marriage to wealthy Robert Martin.</p><p>&#8220;She comes across as very self-absorbed,&#8221; said Talia Johnson, 21, a psychology major from Nazareth who plays Janet. &#8220;When it comes to Robert, they only met very briefly.&#8221;</p><p>Nevertheless, the wedding is apparently going to take place, as long as the chaperone can keep a close eye on the lovebirds. But can she even keep her eyes open?</p><p>&#8220;She&#8217;s very drunk,&#8221; said Ashley Surdoval, 21, a theatre major from Topton, who gets to stumble around and sing about keeping her &#8220;eyeball on the highball&#8221; in the chaperone role.</p><p>Let&#8217;s see. What could keep this wedding from taking place? There&#8217;s the chaperone&#8217;s penchant for imbibing &#8230;. a pair of gangsters whose boss wants the bride to <em>stay</em> in show business &#8230; and a Don Juan who might try to seduce Janet.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;ll sleep with anything that moves,&#8221; said Gabriel Gillespie, 18, a human resources management major from Forty Fort who plays the amorous Adolpho.</p><p>Janet&#8217;s producer would prefer she stay in the Follies rather than leave to get married. It that because he likes her himself?</p><p>&#8220;No, I&#8217;m just in it for the money,&#8221; said John Barrera, 18, a theatre major from Ventura, Calif.</p><p>Then there&#8217;s Kitty, &#8220;a very ditzy show girl who wants to be a leading lady but is always being told she&#8217;s not good enough,&#8221; played by Acree. Kitty would <em>want</em> Janet&#8217;s wedding to take place, so maybe she could replace Janet in the Follies.</p><p>As the story unfolds you can expect a celebration of 1920s-style music and dance, some playful spoofing of characters that would have been familiar to Jazz Age audiences, and even a menacing sort of dance performed by gangsters who threaten a &#8220;Toledo Surprise&#8221; if their plans are thwarted.</p><p>&#8220;It draws on Cole Porter. It draws on Gershwin,&#8221; Reynolds said. &#8220;As for the dancing gangsters, the Latin lover, the ditzy show girl, they&#8217;re all stock characters.&#8221;</p><p>But will they help Man in Chair become less lonely? You might have to see the show to find out.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Posing in a scene from the King&#8217;s College production of &#8216;The Drowsy Chaperone&#8217; are Sean Lickers, Talia Johnson, Casey Cryan and Benton Smith. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_drowsy.chaperone.jpg</photo0><caption0>Posing in a scene from the King&#8217;s College production of &#8216;The Drowsy Chaperone&#8217; are Sean Lickers, Talia Johnson, Casey Cryan and Benton Smith. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO </strong></p><p><strong>What: &#8216;</strong>The Drowsy Chaperone&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who: </strong>Presented by King&#8217;s College Theatre Department</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2-6 and 2 p.m. Oct. 5 and Oct. 6</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> King&#8217;s College Theatre, rear 133 N. River St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Reservations: </strong> phone 570-208-5825, or email boxoffice@kings.edu, or visit kingschaperone.bpt.me</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><pullquoteMeta><p>&#8220;It draws on Cole Porter. It draws on Gershwin. As for the dancing gangsters, the Latin lover, the ditzy show girl, they&#8217;re all stock characters.&#8221;</p><p>Dave Renolds</p><p>Associate professor of theatre, King&#8217;s College</p></pullquoteMeta></div>

King’s College Theatre presents ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’