ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

A Tony Award-winning musical within a comedy parodying the glamorous screwball musicals of the 1920s, “The Drowsy Chaperone” is making its way to stage of the Rapid Fit Health Club Showcase Theater at Seward County Community College.

The musical is this year’s summer production for the Rainbow Players community theater group, and this year’s director, Alaura Howery, said the story revolves around a middle-aged man, played by longtime local actor Matt Teel, guiding the audience through his obsession with musicals, particularly his favorite, appropriately titled “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ is a musical about a wedding where everything goes wrong, and everybody’s confused,” Howery said. “There are tons of vaudeville jokes. It was within the context of the play.”

The music in the story was composed by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, with the lines written by Bob Martin and Don McKellar. Howery said audience members will have to stay tuned to the story to find the answer to the lead character’s love of the musical.

“It’s revealed the reason the guy likes the play so much is because it reflects a lot of his personal life, his issues with his ex-wife and his family and not having a dad,” she said. “It’s very cute, very chaotic and quite a bit of work for our cast music wise. It’s tons of really funky jazz chords and accidental notes. It’s a unique challenge for our community theater this year.”

The Rainbow Players have been performing summer musicals for years, and Howery said when group leaders are choosing the production, they start with a list of plays would be best suited for local talent.

“We whittle it down based on what kind of orchestra we have access to, how much is our budget, if the play is live on Broadway right now, which means we can’t do it,” she said.

Howery said “The Drowsy Chaperone” was chosen to give talent a break from some of the more recognized musicals Rainbow Players has done in recent years.

“We wanted to do something that was a little more adult oriented, something for our more established actors to have a little more fun with and because we weren’t sure how many adult actors we would have audition this year,” she said. “So we tried to pick one where the age range was a little higher.”

Howery has directed several local productions for other groups in the past, but “The Drowsy Chaperone” is only her second attempt at a musical, her first being the 2024 Rainbow Players production of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” She said she learned much from that experience, in particular how to pace herself.

“I didn’t know how much more work it would take as opposed to directing a regularly play,” she said. “This one tested me even more. I honestly still can’t really pinpoint why.”

Howery said she feels this might be due to having more pieces to work with in “The Drowsy Chaperone” that were not in “Willy Wonka.”

“We had to have a choreographer, and we had to really work the music,” she said of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” “The lines, for some reason, were tripping people up. It’s been a real labor of love, but it’s also shown me how capable I am and to not underestimate myself. I can do it as long as I pace myself and I stick with it.”

Having already directed many local productions, Howery not only feels she has a future in the business, but she also feels she is already doing it, especially with online projects.

“I still do a bunch of directing projects,” she said. “I take a break from it to do this monster once a year.”

Howery has also acted in several productions, and while she finds acting easier, she likes the challenge directing brings better.

“It’s just my character and my memorization and knowing my specific cues and props with acting, but being a director is technically more fulfilling for me,” she said. “I get to see the whole picture, and I really enjoy guiding people into their characters and seeing them get excited about it and being able to say, ‘Good job. I’m proud of you guys.’”

In none of the productions Howery has been a part of has she both directed and acted, and she said this is something the Rainbow Players group tries to avoid.

“We want to give everyone in the community a chance to perform and contribute to community theater,” she said. “It seems a little backhanded for the director to insert themselves into it.”

As with most Rainbow Players productions, Howery said the cast of “The Drowsy Chaperone” features a good mix of veteran and new talent.

“There were a few new faces who weren’t necessarily new to other people, but were new to me, and it was so cool to see how many,” she said. “There’s so many talented people in Liberal. The fact they step out of their comfort zone and say, ‘I’m going to go into theater’ and they love it, that is my favorite thing in the whole world. There were a lot of people coming back. It’s been a couple of years, and I get to see all these people again. I get to work with them and catch up on life. It’s been really lovely.”

Liberal’s wide range of talent not only comes from the theater, but also through singing, comedy, writing and arts such as painting, sculpture and pottery. This is something Howery said continues to evolve in the future.

“We have a very underground art scene in Liberal, and I’m hoping over the years, it’ll come up more,” she said.

Though “The Drowsy Chaperone” features irreverent slapstick humor, the musical likewise features what Howery called touching moments that relate to real life that will smack audiences in the face due to the goofiness of the story.

“Most importantly, they’re in store for a cast that has really put their all into a show,” she said. “Honestly, I see great pride in the work they have done.”

Just as the story of “The Drowsy Chaperone” is more chaotic than most musicals, Howery said so too have been rehearsals for the production, but she said talent and stage hands have adapted.

“We were able to really crack down on the loose spots and pull everything together,” she said. “That’s honestly the best part of a show – when all of the pieces fit together and you can see the whole show in one go. Are we ready for opening night? It’s good we’ve still got a couple tech rehearsals to go, but we will be ready for opening night.”

Showtimes for “The Drowsy Chaperone”  are at 7:30 p.m. July 9, 10 and 11, with doors opening at 7 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. July 12 in the Showcase Theater. Tickets can be ordered online for $13 at www.rainbowplayers.org/home, and they will also be sold at the door for $15 per adult and $10 for children under 12 and seniors.

For more information, visit the Rainbow Players/Liberal Community Theatre Facebook page. Howery said she is very excited for this year’s summer production.

“This is the show I knew nothing about. I read through it, and I was like this is going to become one of my favorite shows,” she said. “I have found the reaction of most people when I tell them what show we’re doing is either ‘I’ve never heard of that’ or ‘Drowsy Chaperone, oh my gosh, that is one of my favorite shows of all time. I’m hoping the audience will have the same reaction.”