JTE's The Drowsy Chaperone

02/07/2016

OUR LAST PERFORMANCE IS IN 8 MINUTES IN THE LOUIS ROOM. BE THERE.

02/06/2016

Thank you so much to everyone who made our opening night so special! We had a blast sharing our work with you! Don't miss your chance to tonight in the Louis Room in Norris Center at 7 or 10 pm!!

02/05/2016

It's here! It's here! It's opening night! The cast and team has been working tirelessly to bring this story to life, and we are finally ready to share it with all of YOU! We asked our co-producers, Andrew and Bailey, to share a little bit about why they are excited to share The Drowsy Chaperone: Presented by JTE with the Northwestern University community! See you in the Louis Room in Norris Center tonight at 8!

"Nine months ago, we sat down with Emma and came up with goals for our production of The Drowsy Chaperone. One of those objectives was to make the production something the entire community could enjoy. Through the work of our incredible team members, we have put together a larger than life production that emphasizes the extraordinary aspects of the musical while still keeping us grounded in the reality of Man in Chair. At its core, this show is a reminder that we all have our own desires to escape our reality. So, we can't wait to invite audiences in to escape their reality, and immerse themselves in the glamorous and irresistibly funny world of The Drowsy Chaperone.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Louis Room this weekend!"

-Andrew Restieri & Bailey Sutton

02/04/2016

Thanks so much to our friends at The Daily Northwestern for writing up an article about us! Are you ready to -TONIGHT- in the -LOUIS ROOM- at -8 PM-?!?!

A&E A power-hungry Broadway producer, a ditzy flapper, and a Latin lover are all extreme musical theater character stereotypes that will be featured in an upcoming student production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” The show, produced by NU’s Jewish Theatre Ensemble, premieres Thursday in the Norris Cente…

02/04/2016

Tonight is our final dress for The Drowsy Chaperone: Presented by JTE!! We would love to show off for you this weekend, and you'll surely break our heart in two if we don't see you in the Louis Room this Thursday, Friday, and/or Saturday! Here's a sneak peek at one of our favorite moments from the show!

Costume Design: Samantha Nagler
Lighting Design: Matt Kresch
Fierceness Credit: Rosemarie Chandler

02/03/2016

In honor of the final before our opening night this Thursday, we have a special treat for you! No, it's not a ~Hot Toldeo Surprise~ (which you can still order at the Celtic Knot Public House until February 6th!!!). It's a wonderful promotional video shot by our friend Michael Nowakowski! Check it out below and prepare to this Thursday at 8, Friday at 7 & 10, and Saturday at 2 & 8 in the Louis Room in Norris Center!!

The Drowsy Chaperone: Presented by JTE!

JTE Presents: The Drowsy Chaperone Feb 4th - 8 PM Feb 5th - 7 & 10 PM Feb 6th - 2 & 8 PM Presented in Northwestern University's Norris Louis Room

02/01/2016

Hi everyone!

We are just 4 sleeps away from opening! We hope you join us this weekend in the Louis Room in the Norris Center for a wonderful time! Help us celebrate all of the hard work our cast and team has put in the past few months and enjoy the show!

01/30/2016

Today has been a busy, busy day for the Drowsy Team! The production team has been loading in lighting and set pieces all day, while the cast has been working with our incredible pit and signing through the entire show! Take a look at the team in action, and make sure you come see all of their work in person at the show next weekend, February 4-6th in the Norris Center!!

01/29/2016

Hey everyone! Guess what? WE'RE ONE WEEK FROM OPENING! All of our designers have been hard at work the past few weeks gearing up for the show, and we are so excited to share some words and beautiful inspiration images from our lighting designer, Matt Kresch!

"Lighting plays a crucial role in The Drowsy Chaperone, as its flexible nature allows it to take on the responsibility of transporting the show between the two very different worlds that it embodies while remaining in the same physical space. While we begin in the dull apartment in which Man in Chair takes refuge from the world outside, we are quickly transported through his imagination into a roaring 1920s musical that encompasses such a level of grandeur that it has earned its place on the shelf next to the likes of The Music Man, and a place in the Man's heart next to none. For this production, we are melding this world with a "Pop-Up Book" concept. This has led me down a path of projecting stylized flat imagery on the "pages" of the set, while also building in some dazzling tricks and vivid colors that will fill those very pages with the liveliness that the Man's imagination projects onto them."

Check out how Matt's design comes to life in the Louis Room February 4th-6th!

01/28/2016

This week, we're promoting JTE's The Drowsy Chaperone with Toledo Surprise, aka SMORES, challah!

The Jewish Theatre Ensemble, in partnership with the Student Theatre Coalition and Hillel, is thrilled to present The Drowsy Chaperone. A musical within a comedy, this show is about imagination, love, and coming to terms with the life you have built for yourself. Join us in the Louis Room on the second floor of Norris February 4th at 8pm, February 5th at 7 &10pm, and February 6 at 2 & 8pm!

Order yours (plus our other three flavors: plain, cinnamon sugar and oreo) by Venmo-ing $5 and your flavor preference to Challah for Hunger Northwestern University. If you use JUF to order, email us your confirmation at [email protected].

Come bake with us Wednesday 4-5 and Thursday 4-6 at Northwestern Hillel, located at 629 Foster!

01/27/2016

Happy ! This week we asked the Artistic Director of the Jewish Theatre Ensemble (who also happens to be our own Man in Chair!!!), Russell Kahn, about how The Drowsy Chaperone fits into JTE's 2015-2016 season:

"This year JTE's season quote is "imperfect people make perfect communities" (the lubavitcher rabbi). The Man in Chair is a wonderfully imperfect person, who loves his record so deeply that its flaws become in his mind its greatest attributes. The Drowsy Chaperone's mismatched cast of characters become his perfect community - a support system he returns to faithfully, and shares with his audience with intimate attention to ritual."

Russell is so excited to be apart of the Drowsy process! See him take over the Louis Room February 4th-6th! (Just 9 days away!)

01/21/2016

The Drowsy Chaperone's director Emma Wahl shares some of her perspectives on the intersection between Judaism, theatre, and storytelling on this :

"This show is a true testament to the power of storytelling. Stories have the ability to make us laugh, cry, and question. Through storytelling, we are able to time travel and experience something other than what we know: essentially, we can escape the boundaries that reality dictates. Jews have capitalized on the importance of stories for centuries, and it remains one of the key aspects of Judaism. Our protagonist derives his happiness from one single story he has heard again and again, just as Jews aim to improve their lives by telling the same stories year after year. Through this tradition, both in this show and Jewish practice, we understand how stories can be a source of learning and growth."