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- reviewed
by julie hill
It was incredibly rainy the other night, but I didn’t
mind at all. In fact I had a smile on my face, because I was
watching Singin in the Rain at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.
The cast is obviously not superstitious about opening umbrellas
indoors - I’ve never seen so many umbrellas on a stage
before.
Probably everyone has seen the film version, so it is that which
the stage show must live up to and happily it mostly does. What
you lose in spectacular studio sets you gain in the magic of
live performance. The unexpected can and does happen –
as we watched in one scene as the chorus danced off a single
shoe was left behind on stage.
The singing is fantastic, both romantic leads, Tim Flavin as
Don Lockwood and Jessica Punch as Kathy Selden, have beautiful
vocal tone, with no trace of the forced harshness sometimes
associated with musicals. Getting well deserved laughs Graeme
Henderson as Cosmo and Amy Griffiths as Lina Lamont wring out
every possible ounce of comedy. The Beautiful Girls number is
a great showcase for the strong, rich voice of Billy Mitchell,
resplendent in matching snazzy purple waistcoat and shoes.
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Perhaps
the scene which fails to live up to the film is Singin
in the Rain itself. Though effectively choreographed and
expertly delivered by Flavin, and incorporating impressive
amounts of water, it simply doesn’t have the scope
of the film set, plus of course on a theatre stage you
can’t have troughs of water for Flavin to splash
around. It’s still a fitting climax as the final
scene of Act 1.
Two of the most enjoyable songs are Moses Supposes, brilliantly
sung and danced by Flavin and Henderson, and the classic
Make ‘em Laugh gives Henderson plenty of scope to
ham it up. Sadly Cosmo’s gravity-defying running
up the wall somersault stunt is not included in the show,
but the tipping the sofa over stunt got a warm round of
applause in Good Morning.
This is a high energy show from the moment the overture
delivers those oh so familiar tunes to the last curtain
call. The array of costumes is dazzling, as is the speed
with which the cast changes from one to another. The orchestra
was excellent, ably overseen by Musical Director Gareth
Williams, who evens gets a couple of lines in the show.
Screens are smoothly employed at various points, displaying
the cinematic aspects of the production.
I took as my companion my teenage daughter who declared
it, “Almost as good as High School Musical!”
– high praise indeed. The show runs until Saturday
19th September, and my advice is don’t miss it –
so while you go and book
your tickets, I’m off to book myself some tap
lessons. |
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