Juliette Schroeder and the Company of The Drowsy Chaperon, a play that has become one of Canada’s most successful musical exports.Taylor Long/Supplied
In the late nineties, a scrappy spoof of 1920s musicals took shape in a small Toronto theatre. For plenty of reasons, the show shouldn’t have worked – too niche, too expensive to produce, too silly – but The Drowsy Chaperone ultimately changed the Canadian musical theatre landscape forever.
Now, close to three decades since its run at Theatre Passe Muraille, The Drowsy Chaperone – a musical about musicals for people who love, you guessed it, musicals – is coming home.
First conceived as a cheeky wedding present for theatre power couple Bob Martin and Janet Van De Graaff, The Drowsy Chaperone went on to become one of Canada’s most successful musical exports. After an audacious premiere at the Toronto Fringe, a sellout commercial run at Theatre Passe Muraille in 1999 and an expanded production at the Winter Garden Theatre in 2001, the show opened on Broadway in 2006, where it received a handful of Tony Awards, including two for its book and score.
Plenty has changed in the world since that fateful stag party at the Rivoli in Toronto: Come From Away has since eclipsed The Drowsy Chaperone as Canada’s biggest musical. Martin and Van De Graaff have parted ways. Musicals are more expensive to produce than ever before, and it’s harder than ever for young talent to break into the industry.
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But The Drowsy Chaperone, a cult favourite amongst diehard fans of musical theatre, is still here – and, in fact, it’s right back where it started, at Theatre Passe Muraille, with a fresh crop of theatre artists on deck to usher the piece toward a new generation of audiences.
For Shifting Ground Collective, the Dora Award-winning theatre company dedicated to elevating emerging artists in Toronto, producing The Drowsy Chaperone was a no-brainer: “In this ‘elbows up’ period, we knew we had an opportunity to really focus on Canadian art right now,” said Joshua Kilimnik, artistic producer of Shifting Ground and director of The Drowsy Chaperone. “Drowsy was obvious for us: It’s the first real Canadian success story in musical theatre.”
Staging “the beloved hometown musical” at Theatre Passe Muraille was a similarly quick decision, added Kilimnik: “If they could do it then, we can do it now,” he said. “We knew that if we were going to bring The Drowsy Chaperone home, we had to bring it home properly.”
Joshua Kilimnik, artistic producer of Shifting Ground and director of The Drowsy Chaperone, in Toronto's Annex Theatre in September, 2025.DUANE COLE/The Globe and Mail
Kilimnik’s production sees Martin Julien, an established actor with decades of experience under his belt, step into the pivotal role of Man in Chair, the narrator figure inspired in part by former Toronto Star theatre critic Richard Ouzounian. The Man in Chair, despite his lack of name, is hugely important to The Drowsy Chaperone: He steers the show by playing his favourite (fictional) musical on an old record player, reminiscing about the glory days of vintage theatre.
Julien’s casting marks a first for Shifting Ground, which pays its artists on a revenue-sharing model, with occasional Equity contracts for more established artists: Julien is one of the first non-Gen-Z actors to be cast in one of the company’s shows.
“Martin’s casting is in direct fulfilment of our mission to introduce emerging artists to the world,” said Kilimnik. “We want our artists to build relationships with the major players of Toronto. We’re introducing our casts to audience members, yes, but also casting directors, artistic directors, the people who will provide them with opportunities. More than anything, we want our artists to build hands-on professional relationships with artists like Martin – he’s someone audiences know and respect.”
The show’s writers – Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, Don McKellar and Martin – are on board with Kilimnik’s treatment of the work: They’ve signed off on a few libretto tweaks that recalibrate the show’s jokes for a 2026 audience, and they’re eager to see what a predominantly Gen Z team does with the material.
“The piece is really a living organism,” Morrison said. “It has been for all these years. We’re constantly trying to make adjustments while retaining the intention of the work.” Updates to the book include hyperlocal references to Toronto – oft-removed from the licensed version of the show, which has played all over the world – and nips and tucks to lines and songs that reference other musicals. One song, Message from a Nightingale, has been cut completely.
“It doesn’t feel particularly full-circle, the show coming back to Theatre Passe Muraille,” continued Morrison. “It’s more like another ripple in the show’s lifespan, which is fabulous.”
John Karastamatis, director of communications and programming for Mirvish Productions, was instrumental in ensuring The Drowsy Chaperone’s success in the nineties and early aughts. An early champion of the show, he was taken by the piece’s unfussy approach to celebrating live theatre, and helped Drowsy’s creative team keep expanding the work until it was ready for bigger, better stages.
Shifting Ground’s staging of the show, said Karastamatis, carries all the signs of getting Drowsy right: “It’s not going to be slick,” he said. “It’s not going to be polished, and it shouldn’t be. This is the way it was meant to be. Drowsy has had a really successful life, and this really interesting journey, but sometimes it’s nice to go back to the beginning and see it in this scrappier way.”
Scrappy, perhaps, but Shifting Ground has made an undeniable dent on the Toronto theatre industry: Its 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee all but swept the musical theatre division of the Dora Awards in 2025, and its programming has become more ambitious with each passing year. Its productions usually feature a full orchestra and regularly sell out; you’d be hard-pressed to find a young theatre artist in Toronto who hasn’t at least auditioned for the company.
“They’re more than just a community theatre group,” said Karastamatis, adding that he’s purchased Drowsy Chaperone tickets for several of his colleagues at Mirvish. “They’re not a large company. But I genuinely believe that this is the next generation of musical theatre talent in this city.”