After a sell-out West End season, praise from
critics in a major UK tour, Singin’ in the Rain is delighting Australian
audiences. After a successful start to the Australian season in Melbourne, the
show has now arrived in Sydney and local theatre goers are set for a wonderful
theatrical adventure.
This show is packed full of the charm, comedy,
glamour and romance. It tells the story of the first Hollywood musical, when
the silver screen found its voice and left silent movies – and some of its
stars – behind.
When I was invited to attend the Sydney opening
of Singin'in the Rain, I jumped at the opportunity. I love the
original film from the 1950's, so the chance to see it performed live on stage
was wonderful.
As we so rarely get to spend any time together
(without kids), I invited my sister to be my "plus one". We kissed
the family good bye and left home early so that we could find good parking at
the venue and have dinner before the show - again, without kids! We made our
way into the theatre and sat down, ready to be entertained. And that we were.
The first half went by quickly and closed with
the title song, "Singin' in the Rain". It rained on stage. Literally,
it rained! Thousands of litres of water were raining on the stage. The front
few rows were given ponchos to keep them dry-ish, while Don Lockwood sang and
danced around with his umbrella, in that scene made famous by Gene Kelly.
Honestly, it was wonderful. At one point, I
remember looking at the people around me while he was splashing about and
seeing the smiles on everyone's face. Pure joy.
It was interesting to see the crew clean and dry
the stage during the intermission. Honestly, they were amazing and if you
hadn't seen it "rain" on the stage, you wouldn't know it, come the second half.
Before long, it was all over and we were making
our way back home and discussing how we could convince our kids to take up tap
dancing lessons.
Don Lockwood, is performed by Grant
Almirall (unfortunately, Adam Garcia is currently injured). Kathy
Selden is performed by Gretel Scarlet and they're brilliant leading stars. Personally,
for me it was Cosmo Brown (performed
by Jack Chambers) who stole the show. He is one of those stars, who when on
stage, draws your eyes.
Erika Heynatz is absolutely flawless in her
performance as Lina Lamont (the
character with the awful speaking and singing voice). Erika squeaks through a
fantastically funny performance. Love, love, love her!
Singin' in the Rain is at the Lyric Theatre in
Sydney for the next few weeks. For a wonderful night, get some friends together
and go see it before it heads up to Brisbane. Purchase tickets directly from the Singin'
in the Rain page.
Photos
by Jeff Busby
looks awesome .....
ReplyDeleteIt was such a lovely show. I highly recommend it!
Deletegreat! we have also so much rain here in denmark... :0) greetings ulrike
ReplyDeleteHi Ulrike, it's been a rainy few days here too. Hope it's clearing and that you're enjoying your summer xx
DeleteAbsolutely brilliant show. I went the second week it was open in Melbourne and Adam Garcia wasn't in it that day for some reason. I was so disappointed as I've loved him since coyote ugly days however Grant was sensational. So glad you enjoyed it too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and giving me a smile.
ReplyDelete