Singin' in the Rain

Many musical shows are well known from their West End or big movie name versions. Singin’ in the Rain fits this bill without a doubt. The stage show is an adaption of the famous 1952 movie of the same name opening on the West End in 1983 with Tommy Steele and Roy Castle in the lead roles.

Unlike most musicals, however, this one is also well known for the title number following a comedy sketch in Morecombe and Wise 1971 Christmas show!

The storyline centres on silent movie stars Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont. With the introduction of talkies this means that their next film will need to embrace this new technology, however, Lina’s voice is not what the movie going public may want to hear! Enter Cosmo Brown and the idea to dub Lina’s voice using an unknown actress/singer Kathy Selden. All is discovered and Kathy becomes the star! 

Richard Cope as Don Lockwood was totally believable and in command of the role throughout the performance with of course the title song ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ at the end of act one. This was one of the many highlights of the show and the one the audience was waiting for. The scene is demanding for all involved but worked seamlessly and did not disappoint.

The silent movie diva Lina Lamont was played by Louise Griffin complete with squeaky voice! She managed to play the character well alongside Francesca Handley who fitted the role of Kathy Seldon well and had a lovely singing voice for ‘All I Do Is Dream Of You’ and ‘Would You?’.

The comedian of the show is Cosmo Brown played by Danny Teitge who managed to extract the comedy of the role particularly in ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’. Danny had good comic timing and shone throughout. Another highlight of the show and, again expected by the audience, involves the sofa during ‘Good Morning’. Danny and Richard were paired well together.

Jo Tanter played the role of Miss Dinsmore the diction coach well as did Keshia Herbert as Dora Bailey.

Supporting roles were all well played by Jake Winwood as the stage manager Roscoe Dexter, Mike James as RF Simpson the studio manager, Lee Connelly as both Sid and Rod and Sarah Coussens as Zelda Zanders.

The show included pre-recorded black and white movie era scenes as silent movies and early ‘talkies’ involving the cast. These were well done badly to demonstrate the early use of such technology and enhanced the production and provided great entertainment!

It was not until going backstage at the end of the show I realised the limited space available for set storage let alone cast awaiting to go on stage. Scene changes were slick and provided the necessary scenery and furniture needed. In this show it is obvious one needs to congratulate the crew on ensuring the stage was safe for actors after the rain scene.

The band, once again under the leadership of Richard Ganner did not drown out the cast on stage and provided a good quality, balanced sound.

The audience were most certainly appreciative of the matinee performance I saw. Once again this was a quality production by Quarry Bank Musical Theatre Society which lived up to expectations. Congratulations to everyone involved in the production whether on stage, backstage or production team.    

So where next for this talented group? Firstly, their youth section performs Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Steer in September this year. This is followed by the recently released to amateur groups - Shrek the Musical. I most certainly look forward to seeing Quarry Bank Musical Theatre Society again

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.