Portuguese bakers all have moustaches. Stuck in a hurricane? Go for a swim with a glass of wine in hand.

Tony Award-winner Lisa Lambert has a list of quirks she’s collected on her travels around the world.

The Drowsy Chaperone composer picked up the storm survival tip here, as she waited out Hurricane Joaquin.

Only the night before, she had watched as Gilbert & Sullivan performed her Broadway musical at City Hall.

“The Bermuda performance was fantastic,” she said. “Everything was really funny. There were some really beautiful phrases with the lyrics and people clearly understood the show.”

The Drowsy Chaperone is a parody of the American musical comedies that were popular in the 1920s. The central character, Man in the Chair, is a huge fan.

Technically, the show wasn’t meant to be.

Ms Lambert and a handful of friends created it as a bachelor party gift for television writer and comedian Bob Martin and his fiancée, Janet van de Graaf.

“Whenever there was an occasion I’d write something with the theme in mind,” she said. “I don’t do it so much now.”

The Drowsy Chaperone took off after Mr Martin helped reshape it for the Toronto Fringe Festival. Major productions in Toronto, Los Angeles, London, Japan and, of course, New York followed.

Ms Lambert, who wrote the show’s music and lyrics with Greg Morrison, has travelled a lot since it won five Tony Awards after its 2006 Broadway premiere.

“I basically came to Bermuda to see it,” the 52-year-old said. “It’s been done in Europe, in Asia, Australia and South America. Anywhere outside North America I try and see it. There are usually a number of performances in the UK each year. I was in Denmark a few years ago and came back from Sweden last month.

“Most of the time I finance the trips, but many of the big international productions have brought me over.”

Although the Bermuda production closely followed the original, Ms Lambert said that’s not always the case.

“Translations of Drowsy are a great way to be introduced to new languages; I know the meaning of what’s being said, so I start hearing phrase patterns, words repeated, etc.

“In Brazil it was adapted for the audience and it felt like a lot of new stuff, to me. It was really exciting and definitely seemed Brazilian in terms of music. It took place in Brazil very clearly — there were references all the way through. What I found out was that apparently Portuguese bakers always wear a moustache, even if they’re not real.”

Ms Lambert wrote singing telegrams before The Drowsy Chaperone became a hit.

“I did that for 15 years as a way to make a living,” she said.

The Tony Award nominations and subsequent wins came as a surprise.

“We thought it might make a series and that we would put it on stage but it took off on its own. We had a lot of luck; a lot of people showed up at the right time. The show had just opened.

“It was nerve-racking before the award. I was really disorganised and missed a lot of things I could’ve enjoyed. But once I got it it was surreal, and really fun.”

The composer has recently done work on Sensitive Skin, a Canadian television show starring Kim Cattrall.

She’s also working with Mr Morrison and Robert Harling on an adaptation of the 2008 film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

It was her first time in a hurricane and her first time here. Even Joaquin passed muster, despite the inconvenience of a few boarded windows.

“I was staying at a lovely bed and breakfast, Granaway guesthouse,” she said. “I had a beautiful view but they came and boarded it up — a minor inconvenience. They had a fantastic pool and I was out swimming during the wind and rain. They came out with a glass of wine. It was fantastic!

“I wasn’t scared at all; everybody seemed to know what to do. I was due to leave on Monday but when heard I about the hurricane coming I thought, why not stay another day and avoid all the airport confusion. Turned out it was a really smart move. It was too short a trip. I need to come back.”

The Drowsy Chaperone ran from October 1 to 10 at the Earl Cameron Theatre.