The Drowsy Chaperone, a huge hit with students and Granville residents alike, sports a musical within a play, as a wildly enthusiastic fan of Broadway musicals perches on the edge of his armchair and watches the songs on one of his favorite albums come to life. Basically, the chaperone attempts to keep a bride and groom from meeting before their wedding to avoid bad luck. On the face of it, the musical offers an upbeat reprieve from reality, but there’s also an undercurrent of social commentary on the simplistic, insensitive manner in which so many minority groups have been portrayed for the entertainment of the masses.
After Thursday night’s production, Dr. Joan Novak (Emerita, Religion and Women’s Studies) and Dr. Jack Shuler (English and Black Studies) facilitated a talkback that included cast and audience members and the Director, Cheryl McFarren. For several playgoers, this was their second visit to the show, and many of the spoofs of racial stereotypes didn’t really hit home until this second viewing since the production is packed with glitter, dance, and catchy tunes that occupy the senses the first time around. According to Dr. McFarren, one of the scenes that best illustrates the play’s entertaining parody/denouncing satire opens Act II. From the start, the cast was especially appalled by the slurs against Asians and worried that overall, the play might be misinterpreted by audiences. The politically incorrect “Oriental” song probably got the most laughs, but this was because we’re no longer the Broadway musical crowd of old that might have accepted such representations as legit. And as Dr. Novak pointed out, “Risk is involved in every artistic endeavor”, so it was hoped that the ditzy blonde showgirl, the jokes about the elderly, quips at the expense of homosexuals, jabs at “Mediterranean” folk, and images of grinning, silenced African Americans would be seen not as endorsements of stereotypes but as inanely broad strokes that fit no one.
Dr. Shuler emphasized that the effort to avoid buying into stereotypes is a lifelong, active endeavor. If you maintain a passive attitude towards racism (in animated movies, sports team mascots, print and TV ads, etc), stereotypes can seep into you and warp the way you look at the world. Noticing some discomfort among the cast in regard to the tap dancing scene, Keith Nolen (’13) was concerned that many people know stereotypes are wrong but don’t really understand why. Thought-provoking analysis in the talkback session revealed some of the history behind these sweeping racial generalizations. Intrigued by what writers twenty years from now will spoof in today’s culture, Dr. Novak encouraged us not to give future playwrights a lot of material to work with in that department!
by Lisa Alberico, published in TheDEN 2010