Singin' in the Rain UK Tour
Wednesday 19th March 7:30pm
Birmingham audiences were 'wowed' last night as the UK Tour of 'Singin' in the Rain' splashed into Birmingham Hippodrome ahead of a three week toe tapping run at the city's biggest theatre. It was hard not to sing-a-long to this fantastic production, featuring all of the well-known classics from the 1952 iconic film starring Gene Kelly. Featuring the popular "Good Morning", "You are my lucky star", "Make 'em laugh" and of course the title tune "Singin' (and dancing) in the rain" - my feet were tapping along throughout!
The timeless musical tells the story of silver screen actors Don Lockwood and his uniquely voiced co-star Lina Lamont, as they make the transition between the silent movie and their first Hollywood musical film. Chorus girl Kathy Seldon captures the heart of Don on her quest for stardom and finds herself the voice of the first 'talkie' movie much to the dismay of Ms Lamont!
Before embarking on a UK tour, this particular production of 'Singin' in the rain' started life at the Chichester Festival Theatre in Summer 2011 and transferred to London's Palace Theatre in 2012 opening to much critical acclaim. It received four Olivier award nominations and played to 750,000 audience members, whom of which may have got a little more theatre than they bargained for if they were situated in 'The Splash Zone!'
As a lover of all things musical and stagey I was completely in my element watching this production. As a budding choreographer, I was totally in awe of Andrew Wright's stunning dance production numbers - his vision and attention to 1920's detail was sublime and the ensemble in particular executed the extremely intricate routines seamlessly. The Broadway Ballet for me amongst the other production numbers was just exquisite with the addition of the colourful costumes enhancing the choreography. I must also commend Jonathan Church's superb direction and Simon Higlett's Stage Design as the transitions between the live theatricals and video projections ran slickly to ensure there were no holdups in technicalities.
Of course any production of "Singin' in the Rain" would not be complete without a torrential rainstorm and the cleverly constructed set provided this by the bucket load! This production requires half a mile of flexible pipe work, a 10 tonne water tank and a water system that creates a downpour from above and flooding from below the stage. It rains (and recycles) over 12,000 litres of downpour per performance! Now that's a lot of rain!
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| Adam Cooper (West End production) |
Leading the cast in the role of Don Lockwood was James Leece, who effortlessly breezed through the Kelly-esque song and dance sequences, earning rapturous applause for his rendition of 'Singin' in the Rain.' Tap dancing, especially in litres of water is no easy task and Leece mastered the role of Mr Lockwood and was well suited to the role. Comedy, however will always prevail and Leece was well matched with Stephane Anelli who was perfect in the role of the comic Cosmo Brown. His performance of the classic 'Make 'em laugh' was executed with such ease and his vaudeville and circus tricks brought the house down in this deservedly stand out number. Anelli's portrayal and facial expressions were almost a replica of Donald O'Connor's original Cosmo and alongside Leece they both provided some excellent performances in 'Fit as a Fiddle' and 'Moses Supposes' (alongside Luke Dowling as the Dialect Coach).
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| James Leece, Amy Ellen Richardson, Stephane Anelli |
Leading lady Amy Ellen Richardson gave a lovely portrayal of Kathy Seldon and her superb singing and elegant dance moves ensured she was most charming in the Debbie Reynolds role. A highlight of the production - the iconic 'Good Morning' tap trio performed by Richardson, Leece and Anelli, a personal favourite of mine especially as it included the infamous 'Sofa sequence.'
Faye Tozer (better known from Pop group Steps) was wonderfully squeaky as Lina Lamont. She was extremely well suited to the character and her comic timing and portrayal of the Hollywood starlet was spot on. Her second half solo rendition of 'What's wrong with me' was hilariously funny and showed her versatility from her Arena Tour 'Steps' days to a more intimate Musical Theatre performance.
Great supporting performances also came from Maxwell Caulfield (R.F Simpson), Jacqueline Clarke (Dora Bailey/Miss Dinsmore), Paul Grunert (Roscoe Dexter) and Jenny Legg (Broadway Ballet Girl).
I left the theatre smiling from ear to ear and could have only wished it was raining to have danced my way home. A truly tremendous production at the Birmingham Hippodrome.
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN runs at Birmingham Hippodrome Tuesday 18 March – Saturday 5 April 2014. Performance times: Weds mats 2pm; Sat mat 2.30pm; Eves 7.30pm. Extra performance added – Fri 21 March, 2pm.
