Playing the drowsy chaperone

MHCC sophomore and theater major Merry Bishop will be playing the namesake role of the drowsy chaperone in the Mt. Hood Theatre’s production of its winter musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

The “Drowsy Chaperone” is a play that consists of a narrator, the Man in Chair, who spends his time listening to musical theater to combat his loneliness. “He’s playing a recording for the audience, and he’s just talking through this play because it’s his favorite musical, and his favorite character is the ‘Drowsy Chaperone,’ ” said Bishop.

Bishop plays the part of Beatrice Stockwell, who portrays the Drowsy Chaperone. “She definitely tries to make herself the main character in any way she could possibly do it,” said Bishop about the Drowsy Chaperone (Stockwell), an actress who doesn’t get cast in lead roles as she gets older. “She’s kind of bitter about it, so every moment she can upstage someone, she will.”

Although Bishop plays the character of the play’s title, she considers the Man in Chair to be the main character, and she understands him the most. The Man in Chair had a rough life, so he spends his time listening to musical theater. Bishop said that this “shows that musical theater can change your life and it can make you so happy, regardless of the crap going on. It can be an escape, and it is my escape.”

Her start in the world of performing arts was a process that involved a lot of impromptu work.

“I grew up throwing together random sketches and skits all on my own in the garage,” she said. She would hold her “own Britney Spears concerts that no one came to. ‘Oops, I Did it Again’ – that’s the one I most fondly remember,” she said

“I would literally put on a bathing suit top and go out into the garage, and I would put on the boom box – hidden so no one could tell that the boom box was on,” she said. “I still find myself in front of the mirror with a hairbrush every once in a while. Who doesn’t do that?”

Bishop said that growing up with parents who were arts-oriented was most likely the reason for her love for theater. “I just grew up in a very accepting and theatrical (home.” Both of her parents were music majors.

Bishop said she encourages people who are interested in performing to try theater. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to shape your life and by playing other characters you learn more about yourself, and you learn more just about humanity in general.”