Maurer Productions Onstage will take audiences back to a time when beautiful music, colorful costumes, and screwball comedy were the height of entertainment with the “The Drowsy Chaperone” weekends at Kelsey Theater from Friday, June 8, to Sunday, June 17. A reception with the cast and crew follows the opening night performance on June 8.
Opening on Broadway in 2006, the jazz age comedy begins in the dingy apartment of the narrator (Man in Chair), a mousy, agoraphobic Broadway fanatic. He is seeking a cure for the blues when he comes across an obscure 1928 musical comedy, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” As he begins to listen to the score on his record player, the characters from the show appear, magically transforming his depressing surroundings into a sparkling Broadway set. From then on it’s a whole new tale of a celebrity bride and her uproarious wedding day, complete with gangsters dressed as pastry chefs, a lovesick showgirl, and a self-proclaimed Latin lover.
Cast members include Cindy Chait of West Windsor in the title role. Other actors from West Windsor and Plainsboro include Rosie Karlin of Plainsboro as Mrs. Tottendale; Dan Slothower of Plainsboro as the Underling, and Benji Sills of Plainsboro in the ensemble. The show is directed by John Maurer, and produced by Diana Maurer and Dan Maurer, all former West Windsor residents.
Chait made a return to the stage last summer as Velma Von Tussle in “Hairspray” both at Playhouse 22 and Plays-in-the Park. She had not been on stage since the late 1990s and only recently returned to the stage “post children.” Her first performance was in a Rogers and Hart revue in Monroe. “I was bitten by the bug again,” she says. “Being on stage is almost like an addiction, and I feel so much energy when performing.”
This is Chait’s first role since “Hairspray” and her first time at Kelsey Theater. “I am so happy to be back on stage and even happier that I am working with a really talented and nice bunch of people both on stage and off,” she says. “I’m having a blast rehearsing this show.”
When she auditioned for “The Drowsy Chaperone,” she had not heard of the show. “I did some research prior to auditioning to see if it was a show for which I would be interested in auditioning,” says Chait. “I fell in love with the role of The Drowsy Chaperone and decided to give the audition a try.”
“I am playing the perpetually drowsy (aka drunk) chaperone to Janet van de Graaff,” Chait says. “I am supposed to keep Janet away from her fiance on the day of her wedding. As the show proceeds the chaperone gets drowsier and drowsier — and more and more fun for me to portray.”
Born and raised in Highland Park, Chait graduated from Rutgers with a bachelor’s degree in communications — with a minor in acting; and a master’s in education. She taught elementary school in Red Bank and then at a private school in New York City.
Chait, a triple threat, is proficient in acting, dancing, and singing. She has studied acting in college as well as in New York City. She has danced since she was a young child, and one of her favorite classes in New York City was dancing for singers and actors. She also studied piano and competed in regional and national levels. “My main forte is singing, and I still study in New York City,” she says.
Over the years she has performed as Sarah Brown in “Guys and Dolls,” Elaine in “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Cinderella’s Mother in “Into the Woods,” Eve in “The Apple Tree,” and Muriel in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” Chait has been on stage in Plays-in-the-Park in Edison, Villagers Theater in Franklin, Off-Broadstreet Theater in Hopewell, and the Mighty Oak Players in Monroe.
Her husband, David, works in finance in New York City. “We moved to West Windsor when I was pregnant,” she says. “We fell in love with West Windsor because of nice backyards, a good school system, and the train to New York.” Her son, Josh, 9, is in third grade, and daughter, Kayla, 7, is in first grade, both students at Dutch Neck School, and Cindy is a PTA board member.
“I don’t have any other shows lined up yet,” says Chait. “I plan to spend a lot of time having fun with my kids over the summer and pick up theater again hopefully in the fall.”
— Lynn Miller
The Drowsy Chaperone, Kelsey Theater, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. $18. 609-570-3333. www.kelseytheatre.net.
