"Drowsy Chaperone" publicity photo

photo by Jude Walton

At the risk of sounding a bit like the show’s main character, I must confess that “The Drowsy Chaperone,” now being staged at Performance Network, has one of my all-time favorite openings to a musical: a man sits in an armchair in the dark and talks about how he feels just before the curtain goes up on a live show — including a prayer that goes, “Dear God, please let it be a good show. And let it be short.”

With these honest goals plainly laid out at the start, perhaps it’s no surprise that “Chaperone” — with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, and a book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar — succeeds on both counts. Clocking in shy of two hours, with no intermission (though the audience is teased about this during the show), and bursting at the seams with goofy charm, “Chaperone” is a pretty irresistible confection of a musical.

The man in the chair (Phil Powers) is an ardent fan of splashy, 1920s musicals, and his favorite from that era is “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

Because the man’s feeling blue, he puts on the cast recording of the show to cheer himself up, as well as take us on a guided tour of the show as it suddenly unfolds within his apartment.

“Chaperone,” the show-within-the-show, is unabashedly escapist nonsense involving a star showgirl’s (Janet, winningly played by Andrea Mellos) imminent wedding. Gangsters posing as pastry chefs (Pete Podolski and Phill Harmer) are threatening Janet’s producer, so he schemes to break off Janet’s engagement and thus keep her in the show. To this end, he enlists Latin lover Aldolpho (Scott Crownover) to tempt Janet into an affair, but Aldolpho accidentally ends up romancing Janet’s boozed-up chaperone (Naz Edwards) instead; and an entirely different instance of mistaken identity, involving Janet and her groom (Brian Thibault), also threatens to derail the pending nuptials.

Presented by itself, the show-within-the-show’s plot might drown beneath the weight of its own silliness; but the man in the chair’s sharply witty running commentary — on the fates and backgrounds of the show’s stars, as well as the production’s strengths and weaknesses — provides the audience with a more immediate point of connection, as well as an appealing ally. The man’s endearing devotion to the show, and the joy he derives from it, is ultimately infectious.

So the casting of the man in the chair is absolutely critical to any production of “Chaperone” — and the Network has found an uncannily perfect fit in Powers. His childlike enthusiasm while watching “Chaperone,” and the brief glimpse he provides regarding the man’s past pain late in the show, make you like and empathize with this lonely man — to the point where you almost resist looking away from him.

But you should, because there’s lots of other great stuff happening on stage, too. Though some performers are stronger singers than others, the cast members play off each other exceedingly well. Edwards is fantastic as Janet’s chaperone; Charlie Sutherland employs a wonderfully understated, dry humor as the butler; as Kitty, a dim-witted woman anxious to take Janet’s place in the show, Eva Rosenwald wrings solid laughs from a small part; Crownover’s deliciously over-the-top Aldolpho is not-to-be-missed; and Matt Andersen, playing the harried best man, provides a couple of the show’s dance highlights.

Monika Essen’s versatile set design — with four large, rotating doors, covered with painted panels that are changed according to each scene’s locale, and a hideaway bed and staircase — allows director Carla Milarch’s breezy production to never lose a beat, and also provides choreographer Phil Simmons with room to play in the Network’s intimate space.

There were a couple of very minor musical issues on opening night — a brief struggle to establish the tempo in “Cold Feets,” and balance problems in Trix the Aviatrix’s number (Lisa Lauren Smith has a lovely voice, but I strained to hear her) — and a precariously fastened panel threatened to come off one of the revolving doors.

But these small items take nothing away from the impressive whole that is “Chaperone.” My bet is that you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more fun night out in Ann Arbor during this holiday season.

Note: Performance Network yesterday announced an extension of "The Drowsy Chaperone" to Jan. 2. Box office: 734-663-0681or online.

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.