Reviewed by Tony Annicone You won’t hear people singing in the rain this year because we’ve been having a very rainy year and are sick of it. However when you come to see it rain in the theatre it will definitely put a smile on your face, a song in your heart and your feet tapping away. The second summer blockbuster musical for Theatre by the Sea’s 86th season is “Singing in the Rain”, the 1985 stage version of the classic 1952 movie. It starred Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds and was directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. The show was written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and is set in 1927 Hollywood. It is a light hearted musical romantic comedy about the early days of sound film, when many a studio found itself scrambling due to the career of chipmunk-voiced silent film stars.
Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are the toast of Tinseltown until “talkies” like “The Jazz Singer” comes on the scene. She has a voice like nails on a chalkboard. The audience watches as Don, Kathy, Cosmo, the producer and director of the New Talkies try to straighten things out with hilarious and unexpected results. Director/choreographer Kelli Barclay captures the flavor of and the nostalgic flair of the 1920’s with her direction and choreography of the dance numbers and keen insight into these iconic roles. The musical direction by Milton Granger is superb with the melodic voices of the soloists and the harmonic blend of orchestra with them. Also the seven piece orchestra and the chorus numbers add to the overall enjoyment of the show with the glorious music of yesteryear. Owner and producer Bill Hanney keeps the production values at a Broadway level for this show, bringing the best to Matunuck once again. He also makes a cameo appearance in a filmed segment explaining how talkies are made during the first party scene. Add a phenomenal chorus, a multitude of colorful costumes by David Costa Cabral, fantastic sets by Kyle Dixon, some expert bobbed wigs for the women by Meg Kane and some extremely humorous black and white silent films. Their combined expertise wins the talented cast a spontaneous standing ovation from the very appreciative audience who yearn for the carefree days of the past.
Barclay makes her cast excel at the comic one liners to win laughs and keep the high energy needed for this musical. The tap dancing, the jazz moves, the can can and Charleston are some of her creations that entrance the audience thoroughly. The leading man of this production is Tim Falter as Don Lockwood. He captures the essence of this old time movie star marvelously and is suave and debonair. Falter is wonderful throughout the show and his “Singing in the Rain” number which closes Act 1 is a show stopper with actual rain falling on the stage. The “Broadway Melody” section is a 15 minute dance segment with many elaborate dances of the 1920’s done by Falter and the chorus. They execute Barclay’s dance moves in perfect unison. This sequence is flawless with some of the best and most impressive dancing in the show. The dancing girl in the green dress in “Broadway Melody” is Kelly Gleason who is outstanding as she takes your breath away with her dance moves and deserves many accolades for this role. She is also assistant director and choreographer for the show. Tim’s dancing during this number is top drawer, too. Don’s love interest, Kathy Seldon is played by the pretty brunette, Allsun O’Malley. This talented gal grabs your attention with her dance moves and lovely singing voice all night long. O’Malley’s songs include “All I Do is Dream of You”, “You Are My Lucky Star”, “Would You?” and the “Good Morning Trio with Tim and Sean McGibbon as they tap dance over the whole stage and then flip over the sofa ala the movie version. She is reminiscent of a 1920’s actress not only with her looks but mannerisms, too.
Sean is perfectly cast as the comical Cosmo Brown as if this stage version of this role was written for him. His rendition of “Make ‘Em Laugh” is dynamite as he dances around the stage, up the walls, fighting with a dummy on the sofa, behind the sofa while being struck by wooden boards, doing pratfalls and never missing a lyric of his song. Sean is a laugh riot throughout the show and so are his duets with Tim, “Fit as a Fiddle” where they sing and tap dance splendidly while playing the fiddle and wearing the ugliest suits in the world. (Child performers, 5th grader Kate Rocchio and 7th grader Liam McCarthy as young Don and Cosmo steal the scene while doing an excellent tap dance.) Sean and Tim’s other dance number is “Moses Supposes” where they tap dance on top of a desk and all around the stage while abusing Don’s diction coach, well played by James Schultz. He also sings the first version of “The Broadway Melody” that starts the 15 minute dance segment off with a bang. Sean just finished a two year run on Broadway in “Million Dollar Quartet.”
The biggest scene stealer in this show is Mychal Phillips as Lina Lamont, the Brooklyn dumb blonde, Betty Boop whose high pitched nasal voice is perfection as she utters every single one of her lines. She wears a blonde wig supplied by Meg Kane and later on proves Lina isn’t as dumb as she looks when she turns the tables on the men for a while. Lina has many funny scenes especially in the black and white movie sequences. However the microphone scene where she turns her head at the wrong times as her voice fades in and out and falls off the bench are laugh out loud moments, too. Phillip’s hilarious show stopping number is “What’s Wrong With Me” with her deliberate off key singing, stupendous facial expressions and sexual innuendoes. Lina blames Don for not loving her and her antics are dynamite. Her performance is well worth the price of admission to this terrific show. Brava!
Other comic turns are by veteran actors Thom Warren as the hard ass director, Roscoe Dexter and Curt Denham as the befuddled producer R.F. Simpson. Ellen Peterson is a hoot as Dora Bailey, the Rona Barrett type reporter of the 1920’s. She is also hilarious as Lina’s diction coach with her precise enunciation of the dialogue for the movie. Another powerful vocalist in the show is Connor Coughlin as the tenor who leads “Beautiful Girls” with his voice soaring off the charts. The closing number has the entire cast singing in the rain with their yellow slickers on. These cast members are sensational dancers especially impressive is when they stayed frozen in position during the girl in green’s solo and in the closing tap number to the title song. So for a magnificent version of “Singing in the Rain”, be sure to catch this show before the rain stops falling. Hopefully it stops raining offstage for us, too. This is the must see show this summer season. Tell them Tony sent you. And yes, it really does rain on the stage. I can attest to it because I was sitting in the front row and get a wee bit wet.
SINGING IN THE RAIN (19 June to 14 July)
Theatre by the Sea, 364 Cards Pond Road, Matunuck, RI
1(401)782-8587 or www.theatrebythesea.com
