I actually asked Bob Martin himself via Twitter if Man in Chair kills himself. He said the following: "As far as the authors are concerned, he does not. He lives to play another record. He is briefly transported by the show to musical theater heaven. That's not the same as death. It's the opposite, actually. That's why the Broadway production did not end with cops standing around his body taking notes, but with the MIC returning to his chair to play another record. Although Man in Chair has trouble coping, the show is not about depression. It's about the healing power of art, even imperfect art."
It never occurred to me that the MIC dies. I always took it to mean that each time he plays his album, he's with Friends Who Never Grow Old or Who Leave.
People consider this to be the final ambiguity of the play: Did he really commit suicide or not? It certainly bears the implication of it. But at the same time, it seems like the tone of the musical would make such an interpretation inconsistent. But we have to consider the earlier climax of the musical, when we can't make out what the chaperone says because "someone drops a cane." This is the point that obsesses the man in the chair, specifically because of its ambiguity, the fact that he can't quite make it out -- exactly what is happening with us here. This is the ambiguity that is intended to make us obsess over this musical, and I think it works. I love it.
I played the Man in the Chair last year and my belief is that he probably just had a simple schizoid embolism and is living his dream in his mind. Just a thought...
I think it's the exact opposite.. I think maybe he had those thoughts, but once he had the tune going in his head, he had hope, and therefor didn't commit suicide... that's what I think..
I've been in productions of this show twice, the theory just floats around the cast members. :P So yeah it's not official and it's not explicitly in the show, that's just how some of us have interpreted it
Thanks for uploading! My sister is doing a production with her high school students, and I'm helping with the music. This was a great help, since I never saw the show (which is a shame, since it originated here in Toronto at the Fringe festival).
this show fascinates me just as much as drowsy fascinates the man in the chair. I’ve spent days upon days worth of time just contemplating the l-ve while you can scene, the ending, everything. that being said, I personally don’t think he kills himself. the ending is up to interpretation of course, but I think it’s much more subtle than that. either he’s caught between live or leave forever and he’s just stumbling aimlessly, or he realizes the line was love, begins to discard his repression and stumble but with hope. no matter which ending you pick I think drowsy is straight up one of the best shows to ever grace a broadway stage.
The blackout joke with the performers suddenly seen frozen in the dark was one of the funniest jokes I ever saw. Didn't expect it. "Drowsey Chaperone" could make a decent movie. Since Streisand's vanity will never allow her to do "Sunset Blvd." she could have the show re-written; change the guy who listens to musicals to escape real life to a woman who has spent her life escaping into musicals. She could still address us from the screen, AND do a double part as the chaperone, herself. Probably just as well she can't do it; she'd cut the other parts down to nothing and eliminate the great skating rink scene. Never mind. Forget I mentioned it.
the finale always gives me chills... Especially when you're exposed to the opinion that the Man actually commits suicide at the end. Which would make sense, but is so very sad D:
