Classic 'Singin' in the Rain' ready to make another splash
Linda Goodrich never seems to tire of “Singin’ in the Rain.”
The director/choreographer has tallied 12 productions of the stage version adapted from the beloved 1952 Gene Kelly-Donald O’Connor-Debbie Reynolds movie, including helming the encore that opens Wednesday for Music Theatre of Wichita.
“It’s one of the very few musicals — along with maybe ‘Cabaret’ — I can keep doing over and over because I’m still finding new things in the show to bring out,” said Goodrich, who is also a professor of musical theater at the University of Michigan.
“I love the characters because they are so well-written, so well-rounded. I love the 1920s period because tap is one of my specialties (as a choreographer). Dance is storytelling, and this fits my eclectic abilities,” she said. “This is a show that’s all about the love of performing.”
Set in Hollywood in 1927 during the uneasy transition from silent to sound movies, the romantic comedy first was told 60 years ago as an original big-screen musical by the team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green. They whipped up a story using vintage music from the 1920s to the 1950s from Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, like “You Are My Lucky Star,” “All I Do Is Dream of You,” “Good Morning,” and the catchy title tune.
A stage version based on the blockbuster movie debuted in London in 1983 and on Broadway in 1985, but found only lukewarm critical support. In 1992, Goodrich was part of the Music Theatre of Wichita team — along with director James Rocco, musical director Craig Barna and producer Wayne Bryan — to rewrite and expand the script to include virtually all of the movie highlights, notably the famous and lavish “Broadway Ballet.” It proved to be a sold-out show locally and a critical hit nationally when it was subsequently performed at other regional theaters.
Now it’s back as a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the original film and the 20th anniversary of its local stage rebirth, said Bryan, who is midway through his 25th year as producing artistic director for Music Theatre.
Playing the trio at the heart of the show are David Elder as Don Lockwood (Kelly’s role), a former vaudevillian turned silent film star who is now a big romantic matinee idol; Cary Tedder as Cosmo Brown (O’Connor’s role), a wisecracking musician and Don’s longtime best buddy; and Mary Michael Patterson as Kathy Selden (Reynolds’ role), a perky, fresh-faced ingenue who is not at all star-struck around the somewhat full-of-himself Don.
Also starring in the 64-member cast are Anne Horak as glamorous but arrogant Lina Lamont, a silent superstar who is oblivious to her nasally voice in the approaching sound era, and Bonnie Bing as powerful gossip columnist and queen of the red carpet, Dora Bailey. Sarah Fagan is featured as The Woman in Green in “Broadway Ballet,” a role made indelible by Cyd Charisse.
Don Lockwood
“Don is a big star, and he knows it, but he’s likable about it,” said Elder, a Broadway actor (“42nd Street,” “Kiss Me Kate”). “In the rest of his life, he’s just a regular guy. Don’s a surface kind of guy. He enjoys life. He doesn’t have any hidden agendas. He’s a matinee idol, but he’s lonely for a real relationship.”
The lanky Elder, who has played the role before, said original star Kelly has long been one of his career influences.
“I started in gymnastics, but I saw ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ on TV all the time and realized that what I really wanted to do was be that guy who would be walking down the street and burst into song and dance,” said Elder, who also has starred in national tours of “White Christmas” and “Damn Yankees.” “Gene Kelly was such an inspiration.”
“The best thing about this role is that it gives you the chance to really be a triple-threat (actor-singer-dancer). It’s really rewarding,” Elder said. “You go home after each show and know that you’ve worked – really worked – and you’re fulfilled.”
Cosmo Brown
Tedder as wisecracking sidekick Cosmo is making his debut with Music Theatre and said that he is consciously paying homage to O’Connor’s original performance.
“Almost every line that Cosmo has is a punch line, but Donald O’Connor played them straight rather than stretching for the laughs. That made them even funnier because they were real,” said Tedder. The Georgia native took a leave from college to make his Broadway debut in the Bob Dylan musical “The Times They Are a Changin’ ” and then went back to finish his theater degree at the University of Michigan. He returned to Broadway in the original cast of the Tony-winning “Memphis.”
“Cosmo has such heart and charm. I think he likes the idea that he’s not a big star. He may not have all the attention, but he also doesn’t have all the problems,” Tedder said. “It’s actually a tough role because he’s a quadruple threat. You have to be able to play the piano and do all kinds of hat tricks as well as sing and dance.”
As much as he likes the movie, Tedder said he’s glad there’s a stage version: “This show breathes. You can feel it in the reaction from the live audience. Yes, there is magic in the movie. But it’s nothing like the magic on stage.”
Kathy Selden
Patterson, most recently on Broadway in the Tony-winning revival of “Anything Goes,” is also making her Music Theatre debut as the energetic and outspoken Kathy.
“I can identify with Kathy because she is always right in the thick of things. That’s like me,” said Patterson, who also played one of the children in “The Sound of Music” at Carnegie Hall. “I’m not sure I would call her a feminist, but there’s no doubt that she can hold her own with the guys. She’s young, but she is sharp and witty and bold. She is working her way up fast.”
Patterson said her character may be smitten with the handsome Don, but she isn’t about to melt like the groupies she sees clinging to him.
“She knows he’s a big star, but she doesn’t play that game,” she said. “She knows he is still a human being. That’s what catches his attention.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2012 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Classic 'Singin' in the Rain' ready to make another splash."