Singin in the Rain

First written and conceived as a Film in 1952, ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ needs no introduction and tonight Encore mounted a very ambitious production to great effect.

‘Singin’ is an acting, singing, dancing and technical challenge and in all respects the company and production team achieved just the right balance, with the technical elements never overshadowing the performances of the central characters and the ensemble alike.
Mitch Gamble delivered a strong Don Lockwood who provided the central core of the production along with Lisa Ambalavanar who shone in all elements of her first ever role as Kathy Seldon.  Lucas Young brought just the right energy to Cosmo Brown and without any obvious upstaging, managed to act everyone else off the stage at times, which is in no way a criticism as his energy and dynamism simply exploded off the stage to great effect throughout.  Alice Wright brought exactly the right humour and delivery to Lina Lamont ensuring Lina did not become a ‘pantomime character’ with Alice’s comic timing a joy to watch.

The supporting principals in the production were strong throughout with only a few first night fluffs.  Mike Evans brought his usual degree of gravitas to the role of RF, Tom Preston was great as the frustrated director, Sandy Lane brought appropriate ‘diction’ to the role of the voice coach and also a great cameo as Dora Bailey.

The production was ably supported by the strong ensemble cast and an excellent twelve piece orchestra under the direction of Sam who’s work on the vocal coaching of his team throughout the rehearsal period was also obvious throughout and was supported by strong sound design to ensure the balance was great throughout.

Lighting design supported the production in every dimension as did costuming, and the rain worked very well as part of the action rather than something that the whole production is driven by (or is hampered by as has been the case in many previous productions I have seen). 
Congratulations obviously go to the whole production team for this very enjoyable performance,

Adam had managed to bring out the comedic and more subtle elements of his cast’s performances which made all the characters three dimensional.  The choreography throughout the night was pitched exactly right by Sian with both the cast and audience enjoying the numbers especially in ‘The Broadway Melody’.

Have a great week and here’s to the next Encore production in 2017
 

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