There's a message to be found in "The Drowsy Chaperone," the Tony Award-winning musical that's closing out the summer season at Theatre By The Sea: Even mediocre musicals with forgettable lyrics can transport us to another world. At least that's what Man in Chair, the show's protagonist, tells us, as he provides the running commentary for this musical within a musical.

The same can be said, of course, of the show itself. It may not be Broadway's best, but in the end this "Drowsy Chaperone" is a pretty entertaining night of theater, thanks in large part to a crack cast that's as smooth and seasoned as any I can recall in recent seasons at Matunuck.

It's an energetic bunch headlining this show, strong singers all, with some impressive hoofers thrown in. In "Cold Feets," Sean Montgomery, who plays groom Robert Martin, breaks into a terrific tap routine, only to be joined by Kevin Loreque as best man George making for a sizzling duet.

Actually, the show is pretty clever, the way it takes us into the world of musical theater and the mind of Man in Chair, someone who lives for old Broadway shows and their rosy take on life. The show opens with long-time Theatre By The Sea favorite Lennie Watts, the mousy Man in Chair, introducing us to one of his favorite cast albums, the soundtrack for an obscure 1928 musical called "The Drowsy Chaperone." As he drops the needle on the scratchy disk, the band kicks in and his dingy apartment is transformed into a Broadway stage with the cast popping out a file cabinet and marching in from the wings.

As the show unfolds, Man in Chair offers a critique of the action, along with bios of the actors and thoughts about the state of the world.

He just can't help but call a halt to the show to suggest a song that assures us that "love is always lovely in the end" is just plain naïve. Love, he tells the audience, usually ends with lawyers battling it out, revealing that he himself is no stranger to marital train wrecks. And all the while we thought he was gay.

What's interesting about Watts' character is that we know so little about his life, what he does for a living, for example. Yet by the end of the show he seems like an old friend, a reclusive, eccentric friend perhaps, but someone who is basically a sweet guy who prefers to live in the world of fantasy rather than cold, hard fact.

Watts is the glue that holds the show together, helping flesh out a woefully thin plot. In the cast recording, starlet Janet Van Der Graaff announces she's giving up show business for love. She plans to leave Feldzieg's Follies, making the show's chief investor more than a little nervous, so much so that he has sent a couple of thugs disguised as pastry chefs to look after his interests.

But trouble ensues after groom Robert Martin, who has been blindfolded so he won't see his bride, bumps into Janet, who pretends to be a French lass. Robert is smitten and kisses her, causing Janet to freak out and call off the wedding.

What saves this musical is its own self-critical voice. Watts' Man in Chair is forever pointing out shortcomings in the show. When the cast is about to launch into song about a monkey on a pedestal, he suggests we not pay attention to the lyrics, they're so inane.
Bubbly Erin West, as the evening's Janet, was one of the show's bright spots. She's got a great voice, moves well and just has a lot of presence. And she was the perfect match for Montgomery's dapper Robert, another solid singer.

Happy McPartlin is fine as the Chaperone, although I suspect she could do more with the part. She's a boozer, for one thing, but you'd never know it by the way she acts. Tony Castellanos is a hoot as Latin lover Aldolpho, who is enlisted by follies owner Feldzieg to seduce Janet and thus sabotage the wedding. But the most impressive voice belongs to Asha Brownie-Gordon, who swoops in at the end of the show in her bi-plane to save the day. What a set of pipes.

The show has more than a few silly moments, and a couple of groaners. "Ever spend any time a coma?" asks one character. "No but I've got a cousin in Seattle," answers a second. Bad humor aside, it's also a lot of fun.

"The Drowsy Chaperone" runs through Sept. 4 at Theatre By The Sea, 364 Cards Pond Rd., Matunuck. Tickets are $39-$54. Call (401) 782-8587.