REVISITING A VERY GOOD PLAY >>>

In 2011, Tacoma Musical Playhouse stage The Drowsy Chaperone. It was a hit. TMP has brought it back, not to cash in, but to stick it to other theater companies.

The show has been trimmed to a one-hour performance for the National One-Act Competition. That's right, it's back with a new purpose and in a new version, but with much of the original 2011 cast that brought the house down two years ago.

"(Tacoma Musical Playhouse) takes a charming ‘musical within a comedy' that is a ‘lovely spoof of 1920s musicals ... tongue firmly in cheek' and deliver spot-on performances through the entire show," wrote Weekly Volcano theater critics Joann Varnell in February 2011. "There was a lot of laughing (and some obnoxious guffaws) from the audience throughout the two-hour production. TMP chose a fabulous script and the cast pulled off singing, dancing and overacting with aplomb. (Jon Douglas) Rake was especially funny as an agoraphobic Broadway fan with his effortless, conversational style and authentic movement and gestures."

"The show is about a character who loves Broadway," says Jon Douglas Rake, managing artistic director. "Whenever he listens to his records, the shows come alive in his living room. We chose it because we felt that the show - it's about 100 minutes at full length - could be cut down to a 60-minute version."

Not every show can survive such time cuts and still make much sense.

TMP has made a run at the National One-Act Competition before, which is produced by the American Association of Community Theatre. The competition begins with the state competition, which is this weekend in Bremerton. If TMP survives that round, the company will then go to the regionals in Richland and act its way to the national level. The competition is held every two years.

In 2011, TMP did not make it to the nationals, but by great happenstance - meaning a sudden withdrawal by another theater - it went to the international competition in Monaco.

Tonight, TMP is putting on the one-hour performance at 7:30 p.m. to help raise funds in hopes of going to the nationals in Carmel, Ind. later this year. Tickets are by donation.

TACOMA MUSICAL PLAYHOUSE, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (ABRIDGED), WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27, 7:30 P.M., DONATIONS, 7116 SIXTH AVE., TACOMA, 253.565.6867