Arriving on stage in her bright red plane, Trix, played by Sophia Rippentrop, is preparing to fly the cast to Rio De Janeiro for a memorable honeymoon, but first finds time to belt out the charming "Love is Always Lovely in the End."

It’s still dark in Prem Sahai Auditorium when the plain-spoken Brooklyn Neddermeyer opens Webster City High School’s spring play with a lie: “I hate theatre.”

She then proceeds to tell us everything about a play most of you have never heard of: “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

At times, she gets up from her chair at the edge of the set, joining the cast to help us understand the plot. Neddermeyer, feigning boredom, is perfect for the part, sometimes flipping her large mop of blond hair for effect. Without giving away too much, we’ll only say the lady knows how to use a set of cymbals.

The play is set in the late 1920s and captures the all-party, all-the-time life we imagine the real “roaring 20s” to have been. At least for the very well-off. Cocktails, sometimes disguised as “ice water,” appear in many scenes, and glamorous costumes are everywhere to be seen.

The twisting plot isn’t easy to follow, and this is not the place to explain it. What you must know is that some people, Robert Martin (Gabe Ruby) and Janet Van De Graaff (Alondra Johnson-Santana) plan to get married, and lots of others are scheming to stop it.

The play’s been described as “a musical within a comedy” and that just about says it all. There are 11 songs, all composed for “Drowsy Chaperone,” and each seems to capture the jazzy sound of the Twenties.

Webster City Community Theatre can take a bow for supplying many costumes for this play. “WCCT enjoys supporting local schools in their pursuit of the fine arts, with costumes, props and set pieces,” Loween Getter, a WCCT veteran, said. “We ask schools to make a donation for use of the costumes.”

When the several rooms of costumes at WCCT couldn’t fill the bill, Candace Ruby’s mother, Esther Hood, stepped in to design and sew costumes for the five dancing monkeys who appear as Johnson-Santana sings “Bride’s Lament,” and the maid’s costumes worn by Maid No. 1 (Abby Heckert) and Maid No. 2 (McKenna Buakham).

Ruby and Johnson-Santana are the leads. In addition to learning lines and choreography, Ruby, and sidekick Jack Barner, who plays George, best man to Ruby’s character Robert Martin, learned to tap dance.

Choreographer Lindsay Henderson hated tap as a student at The Dance Connection, but realized its key role in creating the 1920s feeling for this show.

“They were willing and by simplifying the steps, they give a good performance.” When high school boys dance this well, it’s as close to magic as high school theatre gets.

Henderson’s daughter, Karina Murray, plays the lovely, if fussy, Mrs. Tottendale. After carefully instructing her manservant, Mr. Underling (played by Bryce Hrniceki), to be discreet in serving alcohol to her guests, she quickly forgets her own plan. It’s one of the funniest scenes in the show.

WCHS plays often attract first-timers. In this play, it’s Gryffan Stevens, who plays Feldzieg, Janet Van De Graaff’s producer. He’s a scoundrel, though, foreseeing his own ruin if Janet gets married.

Joining him in marriage prevention are Gangster No. 1 (Ash Tinoco) and Gangster No. 2 (Perla Torres), disguised as pastry chefs. Don’t be fooled by the lyrics of their signature song: “We’re pastry chefs, we’re pastry chefs, we cross our hearts we’re pastry chefs.”

A hilarious highlight occurs when Aiden Haman, playing Latin lover Adolpho, bursts on stage. Looking like an Italian admiral and affecting an indeterminate southern European accent, he quickly makes clear his aims: “I am the king of romance, so I kiss a lot.” It doesn’t take long for his roving eye to spot the Drowsy Chaperone herself, played by Caroline Ehn.

Why, you ask, would any self-respecting chaperone be drowsy? In this case, it’s because she’s a lush, given away in one of her first lines: “Maid of honor, and all that rot. Where’s the bar?”

Luckily, she sobers up long enough to sing the rousing “As We Stumble Along,” a ballad to her own fondness for the drink, and the only song in the 90-minute, two-act play, to be reprised.

Ehn’s gorgeous, soaring alto voice fills the auditorium like no other. It’s comforting to know she plans to further develop her talent at Iowa State next fall.

Bringing out the best from the talented cast is Candace Ruby, drama director; Lindsay Henderson, choreography director, ably assisted by Tami Hejlik, choreography assistant; Greta Nelson, vocal director; and Dave Parrott, sound designer and auditorium manager.

Parrott, manning the sound control board, stays busy throughout the show.

He explained: “Each person in the company (18) wears a tiny microphone and small, wireless transmitter. The mikes capture sound from the voices, the transmitter transmits that signal to a receiver, which then sends an audio signal to the mixing console. Since there are 18 people on stage, there are 18 channels dedicated to mixing the voices. There’s also a channel dedicated to the music tracks and sound effects. My job is to balance all those tracks with each other, then with the music, so the audience can hear and comprehend what is being spoken and sung.”

This show is destined to rank among the very best put on at WCHS, or any Iowa high school, for many years to come.

Performances are Friday and Saturday, April 4 and 5, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, April 6, at 2 p.m., at Prem Sahai Auditorium, 1001 Lynx Avenue, Webster City.

Tickets may be purchased online at https://cur8.com/26467/project/130718 with a credit card, or at the door.

Alondra Johnson-Santana, playing Janet Van De Graff, sings “Bride’s Lament”, at the beginning of Act II.