Live theatre is back. After a 15-month hiatus, NTPA Repertory Theatre returns to the stage this weekend with their first production since the pandemic shut down their 2020 season. Their production of The Drowsy Chaperone marks the first indoor, maskless adult production by a major theatre company in North Texas since the onset of the pandemic.
Two members of the Drowsy Chaperone production team are trained Covid Compliance Officers, and every member of the cast is fully vaccinated/immune. Their onstage blocking follows safe social distance guidelines and actors are required to wear masks at all times except when actually performing onstage. Masks are required for crew and audience members at all times.
“We’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time,” says NTPA CEO Darrell Rodenbaugh. “Our NTPA Repertory patrons have waited patiently by as NTPA has continued to develop the safest theatre protocols in North Texas, and now with the availability of vaccines for our adult actors, we’re finally ready to see their smiling faces on our stages once again.”
NTPA has been a leader in the theatre industry throughout the pandemic reopening their youth summer camps in June 2020 and reinstating youth productions a month later. The organization’s thorough safety protocols were created by the NTPA Reopening Task Force made up of 35 professionals including medical, legal, theatre professionals, and parents. To date the organization has staged over 140 youth theatre productions and almost 1,000 performances since reopening in July. Masks are required for all NTPA youth productions at this time.
“It’s really exciting to be the first theater in DFW to perform without masks,” says NTPA Repertory Artistic Director Daniel Dean Miranda. “We would not have been able to do this without the commitment of our cast and crew. We’re taking every precaution to enable us to perform without masks. Our cast members are fully vaccinated, they’ve been rehearsing in masks up until tech week, and we’ve built mask stations on both sides of the stage, so that no matter which exit they’re using they can put a mask on as soon as they leave the stage.”
A five-time Tony Award-winning musical, The Drowsy Chaperone features music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar. This comedic musical turns Broadway farce into an exciting night of dancing, gangsters, mistaken identities and multiple surprise endings. Just what everyone needs to enjoy themselves after a long year of isolation eloquently illustrated by The Man in the Chair. Faster than you can “chop the nuts” and “punch the dough” this “Toledo Surprise” hits Plano with a diverse cast of Repertory veteran actors.
The production team includes Ryan Matthieu Smith as Director and Costume Designer, Geno Young as Music Director, DeeDee Munson as Choreographer, and Ruby Pullum as Stage Manager.
A limited number of socially distanced seats are available. Masks are required for patrons. Livestream viewing is also available for all performances. The Drowsy Chaperone performs May 7-16 in the Rodenbaugh Theatre at Willow Bend Center of the Arts, 6121 W. Park Blvd. B216, Plano, TX 75093. Matinees are at 2:30 pm and evening performances are at 8 pm.
For more information go to ntparep.org.
