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Winner of Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving send-up of the Golden Age of the Broadway musical. The UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance presents the hilarious musical in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall, with opening night set for Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.

Featuring an original book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, The Drowsy Chaperone pokes fun at all the tropes that characterize the musical theatre genre. As the show opens, a lonely man plays his favorite cast recording, The Drowsy Chaperone, a 1928 musical. He tells the audience about the musical, which comes to life in his sparse apartment. The plot features two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a scatterbrained hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, an egotistical Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone: combining to create madcap delight.

“The Drowsy Chaperone is thriving in a collaborative environment, with students, guest artists, and faculty all bringing creativity and commitment to the process,” said director and choreographer Rhett Guter, the winter 2026 Granada Artist-in-Residence. “Working with students as they step into the rhythm and energy of musical theater—seeing the choreography come alive and the production unfold—is as thrilling as it is magical.”

Guter’s choreography has earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for his innovative work on West Side Story at Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre and a Broadway World Best Choreography Award for Cabaret at PCPA. His choreography credits include: The Music Man, Anything Goes, and Peter and the Starcatcher at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival; Bat Boy at the Griffin Theatre; and A Christmas Story: The Musical at the Paramount Theatre. Last year he completed a run as Rooster in the national tour of Annie, performing at Madison Square Garden opposite Whoopi Goldberg for which The New York Times noted that he is “oozing with charm” and “a terrific dancer.”

Patrick Burns, an artist and leader bridging musical theatre, advocacy, and education, is the music director for The Drowsy Chaperone. He has worked as a music director and conductor for regional theaters, universities, and national tours, including associate conductor for the national tour of Spamalot and has served as Production Manager at Broadway Sacramento. As a composer and lyricist, he wrote Life Sentence, exploring the prison industrial complex, and scored Madwomen and Ready Player 3, the latter commissioned by Musical Theatre West.

Instructor Ian Wallace designs the scenery, alum Tasa Gleason (MFA, dramatic arts, ‘20) designs the costumes, Assistant Professor Ethan Hollinger designs the lighting, and Megan Kimura is the sound designer. Undergraduate students Mario Sandoval and Mikayla Freeman are the stage manager and assistant choreographer respectively.

The production runs Feb. 26, 27, 28 and March 5, 6 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 28 and March 7 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are adults: $22, faculty/staff: $18, youth/seniors: $12 and UC Davis students: $8. Tickets may be purchased at the UC Davis Ticket Office, located on the north side of Aggie Stadium, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, by phone 530-752-2471 during the same hours, or online at arts.ucdavis.edu/theatre-and-dance.

Presented by special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). Original Broadway production of The Drowsy Chaperone produced by Kevin McCollum, Roy Miller, Bob Boyett, Stephanie McClelland, Barbara Freitag and Jill Furman.

The Department of Theatre and Dance is part of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science. For information about other department productions, visit theatredance.ucdavis.edu.