So we are back on stage at the South Bend Civic Theater, and this time the production is a very energetic and exciting production.

And here to tell us all about it is Natalie, Libby and Bill.

And guys, from what I understand.

This is really kind of a way to reflect back, but at the same time have a lot of fun.

So tell us what The Drowsy Chaperon is.

The Drowsy Chaperon is a musical within a musical.

It's a man sitting in a chair telling the audience about his favorite show, and the show then comes to life around him as he tells the story.

So the way you said that, I've got to ask a question.

Does he ever get out of the chair?

Or does he get to sit in the chair the whole time?

You know, he sits in the chair a lot, but we do allow him to get out of the chair every once in a while.

It looks spoiler alert.

Yeah, yeah, that's that's the role I could do.

You know, Its literally called man in chair the character title Right.

So but from what I understand, it's very energetic and it's a lot of fun.

So tell me about what it's like to get ready for this in your role.

And what what is your role.

Yeah.

So it has been really fun because it's my first time in a musical in two and a half years.

So it's been really exciting to get to sing and dance, but it's a whole lot of prep work.

We've been doing this for what, ten weeks about.

Yeah.

And so we've to learn the music and the choreography and there's some really big dance numbers which are fun.

And the one that closes the first act is kind of our big number.

I'm gangster number one, and because it is a show within a show, I am playing a vaudeville actor, part of a duo of twins, of dancing twins, the tall siblings.

And in The Drowsy Chaperon, we are playing gangsters who are disguised as pastry chefs.

So I'm a vaudeville actor playing a gangster disguised as a pastry chef.

There's nothing confusing about nothing at all.

No, no.

So, Natalie, tell us about what your role is like.

I played Janet van der Graaf.

She is a star of Broadway who's giving it all up for love.

Who?

Because who doesn't want to marry a millionaire and and.

Yeah.

So that's just kind of.

And a producer is very upset about that and hilarity ensues.

He's going to be in trouble.

So we're going to let you know that Bill was a major factor in creating the set.

And we'll get to that in just a little bit.

Bill, thank you for being patient.

I want to talk about this show as a family.

Right.

And so you guys become a family as you work through.

What has it been like working with your castmates and your directors and and going through all of the lines and choreography?

What's that process been like?

It's a blast.

So that's one of my favorite things about theater.

That's what drew me to theater.

And actually, Natalie was in the first show I ever did at the civic about 12 years ago.

Yeah, and I'm not from here.

So it's how I met my family in South Bend.

Just really great.

But you bond very quickly because you were spending 3 to 4 hours a night, 4 to 5 days a week, learning this stuff together.

You have to harmonize.

So you have to get along.

Otherwise it doesn't go well.

You have to trust each other in the dances.

Otherwise you're going to run into each other.

And then it's a matter of how does the production team work together?

Because you have the directors doing the blocking and the character work.

You have the choreographer doing all of that.

You have the music director.

And it's been really fun for me because the music director is Roy and he I've done so many shows with him.

He was actually the music director in the first show that I ever did here.

Right?

Yeah.

And then the directors, it's Marty and Wendy, and I've worked with them before and they're really fun.

So.

And I have never gotten to work with Kelsey or choreographer, but that's been a blast.

I've seen her on stage, but this is the first time I was able to work with her.

Yeah.

And it just really, truly brings so many people together.

You know, we talked she just talked about our directors.

They're from Michigan.

We have people from South Bend, from all rounds of the area.

So it's truly a Michiana experience.

Yeah.

We finally snagged somebody from Elkhart, which was exciting too.

Nice.

So yeah.

Yeah, but it is.

It brings the community together in a lot of different ways.

So one of the things that I love and this show opens on the 10th, which we're recording on Wednesday.

And so that's just a couple days away.

But one of the things that I love that South Bend Civic does is you guys, your last dress rehearsal is pay what you can and the opportunity for people who might not be able to afford a ticket to come and and see the show and be a part of it.

And that's so cool.

What do you guys think about that?

It's one of my favorite things that they do because theater can feel so out of touch for some people.

It is something that feels very expensive and it is something that brings people together.

So any way we can share that with the community is amazing.

Yeah.

So we got to bring Bill in here.

But I'm going to ask you guys first.

Okay.

This is Art back here in a way that people don't understand because they don't know how that it moves and all the different things that has to go into a set.

Tell us what it's been like, you know, getting to know the set and your movements within something and how that it moves.

Oh my God.

So talk about choreography.

Right.

And that's one of the things our director said because this was their brainchild.

They came in day one with 3D models of all the different configurations of this.

And they just said, trust us, it's going to work.

And it does.

They have a crew to work around it.

But in the beginning, Bill is planning this at he's making it.

He's, you know, constructing it as the word I was going for.

And you don't have it.

So you have to imagine that it's there.

So we're running up fake stairs or we're moving around fake columns that don't exist yet.

And then once they actually get it on stage, then we get to use it.

And it's that's one of my favorite things about the theater is actually seeing it come alive, because when they first came out, they were stairs.

And then the next day they had some paint on them and then they had railings.

So it's really fun to see it start to finish.

And it's a whole maze within.

So there's such a choreography to the set movement as well.

So and I have a lot of choreography that goes up and down the entire time and in and out of all these doors, and you're just making appearances wherever you can make appearances.

And so it kind of pops out at you in every way that you can, including a bed.

Yeah, yeah, we have we have a secret Murphy bed.

Yeah.

So.

So, Bill, last time we were here, there were like four stairways, a whole bunch of different doors, including trap doors.

And now, from what I understand, these giant stairways move.

Yes.

Tell us about the process of bringing an idea to life.

Well, everything here moves.

There's three main pieces.

And then, as Libby talked about the columns, those are tucked away in the back right now.

But everything is on wheels, everything moves.

And the stage is really another character in this show.

It really becomes another character because it morphs into different shapes depending on the scene.

So yeah, all of these pieces, this sort of diamond shaped piece in the center, you can't see on the back, but these two curved staircases are all on a lot of very fancy casters that allow them to move very smoothly and quietly and with surprisingly little effort, given how heavy they really are.

All of these pieces are probably 2000 plus pounds apiece, and and so pushing them around is no small feat.

But we have an excellent crew that has been practicing right along with the actors learning all this movement to get these pieces in and out.

And the pieces also have some little surprises to them.

The stairways look like just stairways, but there are hidden doors in them.

There is a hidden Murphy bed that you'll.

If you see the show, you'll see that pop out.

So there's all kinds of neat stuff that it can do, but it's all all planned together with between the director and choreographer and the actors and the crew and everybody working together to make all that happen.

I think last time we were here, you talked about how a set can look like it functions and not function, but if somebody has to run up those stairs, then it's a completely different ball game.

And so you're building the structure underneath that.

Nobody sees exactly that.

That thing works.

And so it takes a team right to put all of that together.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

We have a team of volunteers that come in and work with with me.

I don't build everything, but I build a lot of things.

But this was very much a team effort.

We had a lot of help with it.

There is a lot of engineering that goes into these pieces.

We had Fred, one of our Fred Kiefer, one of our biggest volunteers, 3D modeled the stair units so that he could figure out how we were going to build them and put them together, and that worked beautifully.

The biggest thing, these pieces are so large, we weren't sure that everything would fit within the stage.

And that's where those 3D models really helped, that we were able to sit them down and move them physically to see, is this all going to work in this space?

And now we have a crew of like ten people, like our cast is only 17 people, but our crew is ten people, and that's how many it takes to make sure that this looks as flawless as it is.

When all three pieces are moving at the same time, it's it looks like a transformer.

Like, that's the best I can do to describe it.

And it's been really fun too, because they're always in the back looking over schematics and talking about like, oh, we have to move this in here.

And so I think it's the first time I've been in a show where they are every bit as choreographed as everybody, and it's hurry, move all that as fast as you can in the dark.

Exactly.

Yes, exactly.

But safely.

Yeah.

And safely.

Yeah.

They have and say autographs of the different positions and so they can they know what they're going to from what seem to what scene.

Because there's one point where these two staircases change sides.

Okay.

And that's a lot I bet.

All right.

So the show is coming up real soon.

Is starting on the 10th.

Give me your two sentence pitch of why somebody should come see this show.

If you love musicals that make fun of musicals, but still love musicals and want to laugh.

This is the show for you.

Yeah.

So if you.

Oh, you stole my thing.

But anyway, if you want something you can bring your whole family to.

Because there's humor for every level, which I think is really fun.

It's also if you want to be on your feet, if you want to clap, if you want to smile.

There are some numbers in here where I have sat in the audience every single night, even though I'm not supposed to.

Just because I want to watch them.

Because the talent is incredible on this stage.

And Bill.

Do you ever sit and watch for people's reactions to that surprise door or surprise whatever.

Oh, I love that stuff.

Yeah.

We don't as set builders, there's not a lot of opportunities for that, but this is one of those where I think hopefully the audience will be impressed with what we've put together.

A lot of times the idea is for the set to sort of blend into the background.

This is not one of those.

Right.

Very good.

Well, well, Natalie, Libby and Bill, thank you so much for your time and best of luck on the show.

We hope it's a packed house every single night and we can't can't wait to see it.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Come out and see us.

Yeah.

Please do.