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BrumHour saw Singin’ In The Rain at the invite of Birmingham Hippodrome.
Jenny Gayner who plays Lina Lamont in Singin’ In the Rain spoke about this touring production to Brum Radio’s Interval Theatre. Listen below:
By Dave Massey twitter.com/BrumHour
This production contains implied smoking, misogyny and lots of water!
Review: Singin’ In The Rain at Birmingham Hippodrome
⭐⭐⭐⭐ A fantastic night of theatre!
Directed by Jonathan Church, story by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Arthur Freed, and music by Nacio Herb Brown.
1920s Hollywood Silent movie actor Don Lockwood (Sam Lips) and his co-star Lina Lamont (Jenny Gayner) are at the centre of tabloid gossip about their non-existent romance. One night, on a walk through a local park, Don meets Kathy Selden (Charlotte Gooch) who is an aspiring actress, Kathy’s lack of interest attracts Don but Lina is far from impressed. Don and Lina have a bigger challenge to face. They have to deal with the advent of talking pictures.
Holding up a mirror to the growth of an industry from almost 100 years later is a strange thing, men in suits sitting on chairs directing clusters of showgirls. The change in how we view Hollywood over time and the stories that come from there alter our relationships with this story. The cut-throat nature of filmmaking is here in sharp focus, its the dollars in the pockets that count.
This production is warm, humorous and filled with pure talent. There are easily recognisable musical numbers from Singin In The Rain itself to Good Morning, Moses Supposes and You Were Meant For Me.
Charlotte Gooch has a lovely singing voice and being able to lip-sync with the footage behind her can’t be an easy task but she does it beautifully. Sam Lips and Ross McLaren (Cosmo) make a great double act and their relationship is just as important here as the romances floating around the story too.
Jenny Gayner steals the show with her vocal skills and character voice, no doubt encouraged and inspired by the wonderful Sandra Dickinson who was previously known for her own quirky voice on film, stage and television (Sandra plays Dora here and also plays a vocal coach character, ironically with little sign of her own iconic voice).
The set is largely one main wall which opens up or becomes an array of coloured blocks, whilst the biggest feature is the ability to rain on stage and this is pretty much what the audience is waiting for from the opening moment until Sam Lips big solo at the end of the first half. The first half itself lasts around 80 minutes with the second half lasting about an hour.
A fantastic night of theatre, Singin’ In The Rain is at Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 11th June 2022. The UK Tour currently continues until 20th August. Book tickets here: singinintherainshow.com/uk-tour. Discover what is coming up at Birmingham Hippodrome here: birminghamhippodrome.com/whats-on.
