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Although Nancy Opel had been following the progress of “The Drowsy Chaperone” nearly from its inception, it wasn’t until the national tour that she jumped on board to take the title role.

“One of the producers lives next door to me and I read it even before he took it to L.A.” where it previewed, she said. “I was doing the revival of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and couldn’t do anything with it, but he’d always talked about it playfully. Both of us knew it was a good part for me.”

Opel has extensive Broadway (“Triumph of Love,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Evita,” “Anything Goes” and a Tony nomination for “Urinetown”) and off-Broadway (“My Deah,” ”All in the Timing” and “Polish Joke”) credits, but this is her first national tour. And it being a show making it’s first trek outside of New York (not counting the Los Angeles preview), not many people in the fly-over states have a clue what it’s about.

“We’ve been to a lot of places with strong subscription bases, so people come to the show not expecting what they’re about to see,” she said. “It’s a little surprise for all of us.”

Here’s the official synopsis: “To chase his blues away (Man in Chair) drops the needle on his favorite LP – the 1928 musical comedy, ‘The Drowsy Chaperone.’  From the crackle of his hi-fi, the musical magically bursts to life on-stage telling the tale of a pampered Broadway starlet who wants to give up show business to get married, her producer who sets out to sabotage the nuptials, her chaperone, the debonair groom, the dizzy chorine, the Latin lover and a pair of gangsters who double as pastry chefs.”

“The humor really comes as much from his commentary as from what’s happening in the play-within-the-play,” Opel said. “He’s not really cynical, but he has a good sense of humor about what people love and hate about musicals.”

Canadian actor Jonathan Crombie will take the stage as the Man in Chair.  Crombie is widely known for playing Gilbert Blythe in the popular “Anne of Green Gables” mini-series. As previously announced, Georgia Engel (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Everybody Loves Raymond”) will reprise her role of Mrs. Tottendale for the tour.