This is possibly, with the exception of White Christmas, the
world's most known and best-loved film Musical, and so it seems strange that it
had to wait until 1983 before someone adapted it for the stage. With music by
Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, and a story by Betty Comden and Adolph
Green, it was a winning collaboration which ensured the show's longevity and
popularity.
It tells the story of a successful movie studio in the 1920s
and the studio's two stars, Don
Lockwood and Lina Lamont. Matinee Idols of the silent movies, but as the new
'fashion-that-will never-last' talking pictures start to garner interest and
popularity, the studio is failing and realises it needs to start making talkies
too in order to survive. There is one problem with this however - Lamont's
voice! What a stroke of luck then that
Lockwood just happens to find and fall madly in love with a young actress with
the voice of an angel! Of course nothing runs smoothly, but love and virtue win
the day and all ends happily ever after.
This evening I was at The Lowry to see SMTC (Salford Musical
Theatre Company) proudly present their version on the Quays Theatre stage. With
a professional set and lovely costumes (and an extremely tight and rushed
'get-in' and tech run!) the whole looked excellent despite some thing not
exactly going as planned or running quite as smoothly as they should [but these
will get slicker for further performances]. And with a fabulously sounding live
band in the pit under the direction of Ed Nurse those famous showstopping
numbers for which this show is so famous sounded great. Christine Meadows
provided some lovely period and well-thought out choreography, and the whole
was directed by Howard G Raw, who is absolutely no stranger to Musicals and
directing.
Yes, Singin' In The Rain features songs such as 'Fit As A
Fiddle', 'Make 'Em Laugh', 'You Are My Lucky Star', but of course, such is the
power of cinema, the show sinks or swims on really only one song and one
sequence. If you have never seen Gene Kelly perform it on screen, you will
surely have seen one of the many parodies or affectionate remakes, so iconic is
this scene that not performing it well would be the downfall of the success of
the whole show. Of course I am speaking of the 'Singin' In The Rain' sequence
itself. The lamppost was there, the rain was there, and our star Don Lockwood
was there; and yes, he delivered and yes, the curtain to act 1 closed to huge
applause.
Peter J Rigney was in fine form as Lockwood. A great
on-stage presence, a pleasing to watch actor and his singing and dancing a joy.
Lina Lamont was played this evening very intelligently by Alison Ruck. This
part could easily descend into caricature territory, or simply be a mono-dimensional
bimbette in the style of Audrey in 'Little Shop Of Horrors'; but Ruck played a
rounded and nuanced part with sincerity, and this worked very much in her and
the show's favour. I loved her interpretation of 'What's Wrong With Me' [even
if the mirror was placed in a poor position]. Alexandra Seven gave a solid and
correctly un-starry, down-to-earth performance of Kathy Seldon, and comedy was
provided for by Lamont's erstwhile double-act partner turned pianist Cosmo,
played here with glee by Jason Manford look-a-like Adam Garnett.
I think perhaps because this was the first night the whole
lacked pace and there were many too-long gaps where either the cast ad-libbed
or we were kept waiting too long; and certainly the chorus and ensemble parts
didn't really have any motivation or enthusiasm in their entrances and exits.
Lighting cues were often late, and the show was late starting at both the
beginning and after the interval. But hopefully these will pick up and get
swifter as the show is performed more.
Given time for the company to settle-in to both their roles
and the staging and technical aspects of this demanding show, this will be a
hugely enjoyable and extremely proficient production which will indeed 'make
'em laugh'.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 6/6/18
No comments:
Post a Comment