The Drowsy Chaperone: In-Depth Monologue Analysis (Man-in-Chair)

“Okay. Now here it comes. The moment I was talking about […] a moment that has fascinated me more than any other and that has brought me back to this record again and again. Here it comes. (Pause). You can’t quite make out what she says because someone drops a cane. Is she saying “live while you can,” or “leave while you can”? And that’s exactly what you think when you’re standing at the altar, isn’t it, “Live” or “Leave” and you have to live. [… … …] So, one day […] you say “I love you” and you basically phrase it as a question, but they accept it as fact and then suddenly there she is standing in front of you in a three thousand dollar dress with tears in her eyes, and her nephew made the huppah, so what do you do? […] You choose to live. And for a couple of months you stare at the alien form in the bed beside you and you think to yourself “Who are you? Who are you?” And one day you say it out loud…then it’s a trial separation and couples counseling and all your conversations are about her eating disorder and your Zoloft addiction, […] and the whole “relationship” ends on a particularly ugly note with your only copy of Gypsy spinning through the air and smashing against the living room wall. But still, in the larger sense, in a broader sense, it’s better to have lived than left, right?”


I always tell everyone to READ THE PLAY so I'll always include a link to purchase the play if you're interested and want to support theatre as a whole. Soon I'll work on other ways to get involved but want to ensure that you guys actually enjoy the content before getting ahead of anything. Thanks!

https://www.amazon.com/Drowsy-Chapero...


The Drowsy Chaperone is a parody musical about a musical that was nominated and won multiple Tony Awards. Originating in Toronto in 1998, the narrator of the play is Man-in-Chair, a lonely, divorced man who is obsessed with musical theatre of the early 1900s and guides us through his favorite musical, The Drowsy Chaperone. Near the end of the play, he interrupts the musical to talk about his favorite part, which leads to this monologue.
I'm creating this channel hopefully for several audiences: young and inexperienced actors who want to learn about how to approach monologue prep; experienced actors who want to review monologues that they think are in their range but haven't perfected/want to debate; theatre nerds like me who just love deep dives; and critics who just like to rip on everything they see regardless of the content (fortunately the theatre community is not as toxic as others). I would love to get feedback in comments or messages, whether that's monologues I should review going forward, presentation critiques, suggestions, etc. Thanks for watching!