By Wayman Wong
04 May 2006

DROWSY GROOM GETS TO RISE & SHINE
In The Drowsy Chaperone, Troy Britton Johnson looks like he’s heading for a fall. He plays a good-looking groom who sings “[I’m an] Accident Waiting to Happen” – while he’s blindfolded and on roller skates. But during the show’s Los Angeles rehearsals, it was his co-star, Sutton Foster, who took a tumble and broke her wrist in that scene: “Troy’s a dream to work with, but I was the one who stepped backward and fell; I felt so stupid.” Johnson adds, “When Sutton was in the hospital, I took her some Vicodin. She went on with the show [wearing] a cast and was such a trouper.”

But Johnson’s quite a trouper himself – and he’s been in an original cast or two. The 6-foot-actor from Charlotte, NC, made his Broadway bow exactly 15 years ago in The Will Rogers Follies, which also opened May 1. As a crooning cowboy, he got roped into it with Jerry Mitchell, who says, “Troy’s spectacularly talented. He’s always the handsomest man onstage and has the most gorgeous voice.”

Johnson, 42, also appeared as Elvis in the King-sized calamity The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public: “I wore a Bob Mackie costume that had so many jewels that I needed a harness to hold it up. It weighed 40 pounds. Everybody ought to be in a ten million-dollar flop. It builds character.” It’s also where he shared a dressing room with then-actor Casey Nicholaw, who’s now the director-choreographer of The Drowsy Chaperone. “Casey’s really in his element as a director. He’s allowed us to create these characters and cultivated the funny in all of us.”

Written by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, this Canadian musical is about a theatre buff who’s obsessed with a 1928 show called The Drowsy Chaperone. As he waxes over its vinyl cast recording, the story springs to life in his apartment and so does the peppy pastiche score by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. “My character [Percy Hymen] requires an affected style of acting, so we watched a lot of 1920s movies. Percy plays this tap-dancing groom; he’s got one bulb missing from his chandelier.” Foster says, “Troy had Percy down pat from day one. He has this goofy and lovable charm.”

This isn’t Johnson’s first time playing the Marquis. He went to bat as Joe Hardy, opposite Jerry Lewis as Applegate, in Damn Yankees in 1995. Johnson recalls, “I adored Jerry. He was the consummate pro. Charlotte d’Amboise and I rehearsed him into the show, and he’d call and leave messages thanking me for the day. That’s a class act. He knew the name of everyone in the theatre and couldn’t be sweeter.”

Though he was a hit in Damn Yankees, Johnson felt he was in a slump: “I was totally burnt out. I was onstage and thought: ‘I’m not having a good time.’ This isn’t fair. There are so many people who would love to be here. It was time to go. So I left for L.A. [for several years]. So when I auditioned for The Full Monty, Jack O’Brien [who directed Damn Yankees] welcomed me back, and I owe him a huge debt of gratitude. Now I’m thrilled to be on Broadway again, surrounded by a cast of absolute pros. So many of us came from the ensemble 15 or 20 years ago. It’s been a gift, and I look forward to everyone else in this ensemble getting his turn, too.”

For more information, visit www.drowsychaperone.com.

WHERE THE GUYS ARE
There’s so much to see in New York: Jazz guitarist-singer John Pizzarelli, who’s always finger-pickin’ good, plays May 4-6 at 8:30 PM at Feinstein’s at the Regency, 540 Park Ave. (212-339-4095). . . . Rob Maitner offers his own Goofy Misadventures in A Tale of Mouseketeer Love on May 6, 13 and 20 at 7 PM at The Duplex, 61 Christopher St. (212-255-5438). . . . With his terrific pipes, Nick Cearley is clearly worth hearing in Born & Bred: The 80’s on May 7 at 7 PM at The Duplex. . . . The stellar Steve Ross sings and swings Astaire on May 7, 14 and 28 at 7 PM at the Iridium, 1650 Broadway (212-582-2121). . . .The brilliant Billy Stritch opens the Metropolitan Room at Gotham, by paying tribute to Mel Torme on May 11 at 34 W. 22nd St. (212-206-0440). . . . Euan Morton will “sing, sing a song” or two by the Carpenters, as well as cuts from his “NewClear” album, on May 15 at 7 PM at Birdland, 315 W. 44th St. (212-581-3080). . . . Jack Donahue will croon some cool tunes on May 15 at 7:30 and 9:30 PM at the Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St. (212-576-2232). . . . Andrew Suvalsky celebrates the release of his “Vintage Pop” CD on May 15 at 8:30 PM at Bar Rouge at Paris Commune, 99 Bank St. (212-929-0509). . . . John Hill will bring his Skinny Corpse to The Duplex on May 15, 22 and 29 at 9:30 PM.

Finally, have you seen the new Avenue Q poster in Shubert Alley? It reads “Wake Up Happy” and features Lucy the Slut puppet in bed with a blond guy. But the blond isn’t Barrett Foa, who’s fantastic in the show, but Will Chase, who isn’t in it. Chase’s explanation? “Lucy and I have been dating awhile. She constantly does photo sessions and I always feel left out. So I put my foot down. Yes, [my wife] Lori knows, and is thinking of doing her own spread with ‘Rod.’ I told her Rod is gay, but she says she can change him. Is it a choice for puppets or are they born that way? Anyway, go see Avenue Q.” Meanwhile, though Chase can’t confirm it, we hear he’ll be starring in High Fidelity, the new Tom Kitt and Amanda Green musical that’s bound for Broadway.

Got comments or questions? E-mail me at waymanwong@hotmail.com.

Until next month, let’s hear it for the “boys”!

Wayman Wong edits entertainment for The New York Daily News. He has been a movie and theater critic for The San Francisco Examiner, a writer for The Sondheim Review and a Drama-Logue Award-winning playwright.