Ivana Cheong, My Wallingford intern and musical theatre fan, wrote this story.
Inside Magnuson Park, the 1920s are alive and kicking as Seattle Musical Theatre opens a new season with a production of The Drowsy Chaperone, a story of a musical theatre fan who one night listens to an old LP of his favorite show, a fictional 1928 musical comedy of the same name. The characters then start to appear in his living room and this show-within-a-show tells the tale of a Broadway starlet wanting to abandon her career for love and all the people who want to prevent that from happening.
Two of the lead actors are Wallingford residents: Jon Lutyens, who plays Man in Chair, and Caitlin Frances, who plays Kitty. Lutyens said he has lived in Wallingford for six years and “would never dream of leaving.” As a fellow musical theatre fan, I was excited to be able to have a chat with Lutyens and the show’s director, Brandon Ivie.
How did you get involved with this production?
BI: I directed a show here three years ago called Annie Get Your Gun and that was one of my first shows out of college. I haven’t had a chance to direct here since and when I found out that they’re (SMT) doing The Drowsy Chaperone—it’s one of my favorite shows, a show that I think the theater could do very well. So I gave them a call shortly after they announced their season and said, “Hey, I’d love to direct The Drowsy Chaperone for you and they said, “Sure” and then I dragged Jon into it with me.
And how long have you been working on this production?
BI: We’ve had four weeks of rehearsal and two weeks of tech, so six weeks total, when all is said and done. I’ve been working on designs and concepts for the last six months or so.
What is your favorite part about working on “The Drowsy Chaperone”?
JL: Lately there have been a lot of musicals written about musical theatre. Some of them have a little more edginess to it, but this one is really a valentine to musical theatre, and what it does for us as people, and why we keep going back to shows… why we keep rewatching Sound of Music and Wizard of Oz or Chicago. My character, Man in Chair, actually mentions that the power of musical theatre is to take you into another world and give you a little bit of something to take back home.
BI: I probably have two. The first one is the people that I’m working with are top-notch and smart and funny and capable and made my job easy, so that’s always a plus. The other part would be… So many shows nowadays are based on movies or books and this is a full-out original musical, which is really exciting for me.
And what is your least favorite part?
BI: I guess you always want more time, whether you’re doing a show on Broadway or in your basement. Luckily all the people we have are really fast and smart, so actually, we get a lot of work done really fast.
JL: And my least favorite part about this—
BI: All your lines? (Laughs)
JL: Right. Well, I open the show with a two-page monologue, which has presented its own difficulty. And while it’s not necessarily a bad part, it’s certainly a challenge.
So is this one of your more challenging roles that you’ve had?
JL: It is. The role Man in Chair is alone. Even though there’s a cast of 18 on stage with me, dramatically speaking, story-wise, he’s alone in his apartment. So it presents a unique challenge because I’m not having scenes with other people. My scene partner is the audience.
BI: It’s sort of like a one-man show with an ensemble.
JL: It’s a one-man play with a musical inside of it. There’s a differentiation.
What factors motivate you to continue working in your field?
BI: I’m really drawn to new work and things that are original, so being able to work on a show that’s A) original material that’s B) written so well makes me want to work on more things like it.
JL: As an actor, I’m really drawn to telling stories of people or groups of people, whether it’s working on a Shakespeare play, a musical, a drama, a comedy, whatever. I’m really drawn to creating those stories for the audience and taking them on a journey.
So what are some of your favorite titles?
BI: My favorite musical of all time is a musical that not that many people know, but if you do musicals, you know it. It’s called Once on This Island. But I also love Sweeney Todd, Parade, West Side Story, and then I love lots of quirky, weird musicals that you really need to be someone like the Man in Chair to know what the titles are.
JL: Brandon and I are actually very similar, which is a reason it’s cool to work with him on this project. We do share a passion for musical theatre that’s not necessarily for one specific time period. Brandon just mentioned Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, and Once on This Island, which were written in entirely different decades. And I think Brandon would agree that we have shows pop up in history that you sort of cling to. Like one of my favorites is Gypsy. And I’m also a big Stephen Sondheim fan, as we all are. (Laughs) His shows always have a place in my heart, because he tells really good stories.
BI: About really complicated people.
Have you guys always wanted to be a director and an actor?
BI: I started out wanting to be an actor and then at the end of high school and the beginning of college, I realized that I wanted to have my hand in too many pots to just be an actor. So now I get to be a little bit everywhere; I get to talk to the designers, to the stage managers, to the actors, music directors, producers. I get a little bit of everything.
JL: I started out wanting to be a dentist in second grade… you don’t have to write that down. (Laughs)
BI: I hope you do. Please mention it.
JL: But I’ve found my passion in theatre since high school and have a degree in it and have been pursuing it since college. So the short answer is yes, I have almost always wanted to be an actor.
Do you have any dream roles that you want to do or dream shows to direct?
BI: I really want to direct Parade. Pretty much the reason that I have a lot of the favorite shows that I do is because I want to direct them.
JL: One of my favorite parts of being an actor, as opposed to being a director, is that I can get cast in a show that I don’t know. And it’s exciting to discover that story for the first time. Of course, there are roles that I would like to play or would like to have played before I get too old. (Laughs) This is one of them that I’m actually doing earlier than I thought. I’ve actually gotten to play several of my dream roles though. As for the roles I will never play… Mark from RENT. (Laughs) I will never play Mark and I’m okay with that.
What are your biggest aspirations?
BI: To direct a Broadway show is a big one. I’m actually moving to New York on Sunday to do that… or to try to do that. I don’t know if I can go straight to Broadway from here. (Laughs) But I’m working on a show and then I’m coming back to do another show out here.
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The Drowsy Chaperone runs until March 5, 2011 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with one Thursday show. The theater is located in the Magnuson Park Community Center Building on Sand Point Way and 74th Ave NE. For more information and show times, please visit www.seattlemusicaltheatre.org.
we are also playing in the show right now, in Walnut Creek, CA