Singin' in the Rain at Palace Theatre

Singin' in the Rain at Palace Theatre

21 February, 2012
by: CatherineSpoonfed

Singin' in the Rain comes with technical audacity and quite a sugar rush says Catherine Love. 

Expectations can be a burden, and Jonathan Church’s revival of this rain-drenched classic comes laden with more than most. Forgetting the rave reviews that it trails along with it from its summer run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, this production has to live up to one of the greatest musical films of all time and to possibly the most iconic dance routine in Western culture. But if Church and his team felt the weight of these expectations, their all-singing, all-dancing kaleidoscope of a production does not let it show.

Church’s version of this irreverent look at Hollywood and the dawn of the ‘talkies’ could have become, like leading man Don Lockwood’s acting, merely a ‘shadow’ next to its big screen sister, but it successfully manages instead both to pay tribute to and to set itself apart from the film. The temptation to replicate exactly beloved scenes has been mercifully resisted, while it remains faithful enough not to alienate ardent fans. The obligatory lamppost remains firmly rooted in the central dance number, while the movie is slickly integrated into this stage version by way of clever, well-executed projected segments.

Despite all this, the odd comparison is inevitable. While Scarlett Strallen makes a much sparkier Kathy than in the film, Adam Cooper’s Don has none of Gene Kelly’s easy charm, consequently draining some of the blood from the heart of the story. His dancing might well make a girl swoon – as might all of Andrew Wright’s spectacularly toe-tapping choreography – but the same sadly cannot be said for the rest of his performance and his lacklustre chemistry with his co-star. Luckily there is strong support from Daniel Crossley as Don’s wise-cracking best friend Cosmo and from Katherine Kingsley, who screeches and whines to perfection as delightfully bitchy big screen diva Lina.

In the end, however, it is the technical audacity, the assured theatricality and the sheer magic of showering the stage with a lot of water – and it really is a lot – which steals the show and seals its success. There is something about bringing the elements indoors and onto the stage that oddly captures and delights the imagination, a feat that is accomplished here with polished yet gleeful aplomb. When Cooper and co bring out the umbrellas, the Palace Theatre could do with having a Sea World-style splash zone and handing out plastic macs to the stalls.


Singin' in the Rain runs at Palace Theatre and is currently booking until 29th September 2012.


Image by Manuel Harlan



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