Thanks to everyone who made Red, Hot & Soul 2010: Uniquely Austin such a huge success! We’ll be moving to the Austin Hilton next year on April 16, 2011 for Austin’s biggest party of the year. Photos below are by Tony Spielberg.
If you can’t view the gallery above, please visit http://www.zachtheatre.org/blog/?p=838
Scotty Roberts plays the harried producer Feldzieg, owner of the comedy troupe “Feldzieg’s Follies,” who is more put out than anyone by Janet’s plans to leave the stage. As the producer of the show Janet was meant to star in, he’s gotten mixed up with jovial gangsters posing as pastry chefs (played by Leslie Hethcox and Tyler Wallach) who threaten to bake up a real mean surprise for Feldzieg if Janet’s not the star and the mob cash they financed the show with is sunk with a theatrical flop.
Jamie Goodwin is the Latin lothario Aldolpho, a real ladies man, whose bumbling antics get the whole cast worked up. Say his name fast, slow, up-high or down-low, he’ll do anything to prove that no woman can resist his charms. Ravishing as they are, Aldolpho’s got a Don Juan-sized ego that’s no match for the show’s intoxicated enchantress …
Snubbing her nose at 1920’s prohibition, she manages to stay tipsy enough to do everything except what she’s supposed to – keep Janet out of trouble the day before her wedding. The Drowsy Chaperone will squeeze every last drop out of a bottle of booze, and poses perhaps many of the show’s most poignant questions. “Why would anyone put olives in a gimlet?” Good question, Drowsy.- The Man in the Chair (Martin Burke)
Martin Burke as Man in Chair in ZACH's THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, Photo by Kirk R. Tuck www.kirktuck.com
The ‘Man in Chair’ is a Broadway fanatic who plays host to THE DROWSY CHAPERONE musical as the vibrant production springs to life in his apartment. Martin Burke, who plays Man in Chair in ZACH’s production, tells us a bit about his role and what a thrill ride it has been for him and Austin audiences.
Martin has one of the best gigs in Austin live theatre: “It’s a joy to sit and watch the actors, dancers and musicians every night,” he said. “But I have to watch myself, too. Sometimes I’ll get caught up in the show and forget that I’m on stage, mouthing all the words to all the songs in the show and mimicking the choreography.”
“It feels like you’re catching me in one of those bathroom moments that I never meant for anyone to see.” Man in Chair starts the show complaining about all the things he hates in theatre: actors going into the audience, audience members getting up to go the bathroom; and the irony of it all, Martin said, is that “the Man in Chair does everything that he hates.”
Director Nick Demos, who recently won a Tony Award as producer of the musical MEMPHIS, and the wonderfully talented cast in ZACH’s production have made this show, Martin’s first performance in an Austin theatre musical, “very comfortable.”
“Nick has taught me a lot about acting and dealing with the audiences. From working in The Santaland Diaries for several years at ZACH, my tendency was to get really worked up when I got heckled. In this production, I’ve learned to just let them be, and it makes the show so dynamic and different from night to night.”
Jill Blackwood as Janet Van de Graaff with Man in Chair mimicking her every move, Photo by Kirk R. Tuck www.kirktuck.com
Martin recalls years watching Jill Blackwood raise the roof in other Austin theatre productions, particularly at ZACH, and now has a front row seat every night watching her “sing with her lips wide open but still moving just like Barbra Streisand.” He noted: “Do people really know that Jill (who plays Janet Van de Graaff) actually does play all the instruments in the musical number ‘Show Off’? Well, she does.”
“My favorite moments in the musical are when something goes wrong with the record and the show suddenly stops. It’s when I’m reminded that I’m actually an actor playing an actor who’s playing a man in a musical,” he said.
“I also love the line ‘It’s better to have lived than left’” when trying to figure out the words The Drowsy Chaperone (played by Meredith McCall) meant to say at a moment with the record of the musical accidentally skips. “It’s interesting that he doesn’t consider that she could’ve meant ‘love.’ It really adds poignancy and depth to the Man in Chair’s character.”
By popular demand, ZACH Theatre has extended THE DROWSY CHAPERONE run through August 29, opening up excellent seats for Austin live theatre audiences. Perfect for friends, family and out of town guests, tickets are available online and by phone at (512) 476-0541, ext. 1.