Steve Pemberton, best known as one quarter of comedy team The League Of Gentlemen, joins the cast of The Drowsy Chaperone from 10 July. Pemberton replaces Bob Martin as Man In Chair, the show's narrator. This is the second time in the space of a year that Pemberton has been seen in a London musical. Over the Christmas period he played the narrator in the Rocky Horror Show at the Comedy.
Pemberton previously appeared in the West End in Art at the Whitehall (now Trafalgar Studios), opposite his League Of Gentlemen colleagues Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith. On screen he appeared in three series of The League Of Gentlemen, which he also co-wrote, plus Blackpool, Gormenghast and Benidorm.
The Drowsy Chaperone opened at the Novello on 6 June. It follows Man In Chair, a fan of old musicals who cheers himself up by playing the recording of his favourite musical, 1928 comedy The Drowsy Chaperone. As he does so, the tale of a starlet about to give up fame and fortune for married life comes to life in his living room.
Pemberton joins a cast that also includes rising West End star Summer Strallen and musical theatre royalty Elaine Paige.
The Drowsy Chaperone is currently booking to 23 February 2008. .
MA