Drowsy Chaperone to Welcome LaManna, Davi, Worley

Broadway's five-time Tony Award-winning hit musical The Drowsy Chaperone will welcome a trio of leading ladies in the coming months.  

Janine LaManna, who recently appeared as "Nickie" in the Broadway revival of Sweet Charity, will take over the role of "Janet Van De Graaff" from the musical's Tony Award winning star Sutton Foster from Tuesday, April 17th through Sunday, July 29th.  Foster will play her final performance on Sunday, April 15th. 

Mara Davi, currently appearing as "Maggie" in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, will assume the role of "Janet Van De Graaff" on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007.  Davi has also appeared in the Encores! staging of Of Thee I Sing and starred as "Peggy Sawyer" in the U.S. and Japanese tours of 42nd Street.  

Television legend Jo Anne Worley ("Laugh In," "The Merv Griffin Show") will assume the role of "Mrs. Tottendale" from fellow television star Georgia Engel on Tuesday, April 17th. Engel will play her final performance on Sunday, April 1st.

Worley recently starred on the New York musical stage in the acclaimed Encores! production of Follies and returns to Broadway for the first time in nearly 15 years since appearing in the revival of Grease. She made her Broadway debut in  The Billy Barnes People and was in the original cast of Hello Dolly! as Carol Channing's standby.  

The Drowsy Chaperone received the most Tony Awards of any musical -five in total - including Best Book and Score, seven Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, four Outer Critic's Circle Awards including Outstanding Score and the Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical.  The show began previews April 3, 2006 and opened on Broadway on May 1, 2006 at the Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway). 

The musical is directed and choreographed by Tony Award-nominee Casey Nicholaw (Spamalot), with music and lyrics by Tony Award^® winners Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and a book by Tony Award^-winners Bob Martin and Don McKellar. 

"To chase his blues away, a modern day musical theatre addict known simply as 'Man in Chair' drops the needle on his favorite cast album – the 1928 musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone. From the crackle of his hi-fi, the uproariously funny musical magically bursts to life on stage. We are instantly immersed in the hilarious tale of a glamorous bride and her uproarious wedding day, complete with thrills and surprises that take both the cast (literally) and the audience (metaphorically) soaring into the heavens. Man in Chair's infectious love of The Drowsy Chaperone speaks to anyone who has ever been transported by the theater," state press notes.

Mara Davi (Janet Van De Graaff) is currently starring as "Maggie" in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line. Credits: Of Thee I Sing (Encores!), Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street (U.S. and Japan Tour), Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Wang Center, Boston). Regional: A Chorus Line, Dames at Sea, Baby, Gypsy, West Side Story, and Grease. Her website is at: www.maradavi.com.  

Janine LaManna (Janet Van De Graaff) was last seen on Broadway as "Nickie" in the revival of Sweet Charity. She also appeared on Broadway in The Look of Love; Kiss Me, Kate ("Lois Lane"); Seussical ("Gertrude McFuzz"), for which she was received a Drama Desk Award nomination; Ragtime ("Evelyn Nesbit"); and Swing! First national tours: Chicago ("Velma Kelly"), Kiss of the Spider Woman ("Spider Woman standby"). Off-Broadway: the title role in Theda Bara and the Frontier Rabbi. Regional: Williamstown (2004), North Shore Music Theater (Aida), Pioneer Music Theatre ( Evita). Film: Two Weeks Notice. Concerts and recordings: Candide (New York Philharmonic, 2004) and Seussical. 

Jo Anne Worley (Mrs. Tottendale) recently starred on the New York musical stage in the acclaimed Encores! production of Follies, directed by Casey Nicholaw.  Broadway productions include: The Billy Barnes People, the original production of Hello Dolly! (Dolly Levi standby), Prince of Central Park and Grease! Last season, she appeared in the Actors' Fund benefit staging of On the Twentieth Century . Off Broadway: The Mad Show. Tours: "Mama Rose" in Gypsy, "the Wicked Witch" in The Wizard of Oz, the title role in Mame, Pirates of Penzance, Annie Get Your Gun, Anything Goes , Nunsense, Grease!, Annie, Call Me Madam. Other theater: Luv, Carnival, Second City Review, Hotel Passionato, Same Time, Next Year; Lovers and Other Strangers ; Moon Over Buffalo, Steel Magnolias and the female version of The Odd Couple. Television work includes "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"; "Love, American Style;" "The Love Boat;" "Murder, She Wrote;" "Hawaii Five-O;" "Mad About You;" "Caroline in the City;" "The Martin Short Show;" "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" and many guest spots on "The Merv Griffin Show," "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and "The Andy Williams Show." She has appeared on numerous game shows including "Hollywood Squares," "Match Game" and "The 10,000 Pyramid" among many. In addition to originating the role of the "wardrobe" in Disney's Academy Award ^® winning animated film Beauty and the Beast,   Ms. Worley has performed as a voice over artist for several cartoons and Disney animated movies including Nutcracker Fantasy, A Goofy Movie and Belle's Magical World. Her many nightclub appearances include the revue S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin at New York's Rainbow and Stars, The Sands and Harrah's in Las Vegas and Miami's famed Fontainebleu.

Visit www.DrowsyChaperone.com for more information.