SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1985 Broadway production)

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 1:04pm

Who saw it? What was wrong with it?

[morosco]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 1:54pm

Here's a link to Frank Rich's review of the show that points out many of the shows flaws.
THE STAGE: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN OPENS

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 2:16pm

I never saw Singin In The Rain on Broadway, but I did see it at the Papermill, with Michael Gruber as Don Lockwood. I remember enjoying the Papermill show a lot. Here's Canby's review of the Papermill production:

http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9C06EEDA1F3BF936A1575AC0A962958260

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 2:19pm

One of my teacher's from high school took me to see this on Broadway as a gift for when I graduated college. I remember going on a Saturday afternoon and the theatre was quite empty. The show was dull and a huge disappointment.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 2:27pm

The show was about a real rainstorm onstage. Everything else was just filler.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 3:18pm

There's a local community theater doing this in August(Plays-in-the-Park in Edison, NJ). They always put up very good productions so it'll be interesting to see how their version of Singin' in the Rain turns out.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 3:34pm

The shortcoming of Singin' in the Rain was that there was no 'there' there.

It was essentially the movie onstage padded out a bit. One can buy a dvd of the same material done much much better for $20. A show is not cost effective.

The film is as tight and sweet as can be and did not need to be blown up for a big Broadway stage.

[evic]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 3:40pm

Hiring Twyla Tharp as director of a musical comedy was a huge mistake. The woman has no sense of humor and the choreography stunk too. Act one was so deadly. I had an oops moment at the stage door while waiting for a friend in the cast. I was ranting about what a piece of drek this was and was given an elbow by a friend. I turned around and there was Betty Comden looking quite grim. It did run a year though- but was still pretty awful. And Don Correa had absolutely no stage presence.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 5:38pm

But I heard it was a great show from someone who "had seen numerous broadway productions"!
Or at least that is what that annoying kid on the commercial said.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:39pm

Never seen that one

But the recent UK tour was probably the worst show ive ever seen on stage in my whole life, it does not work as a stage show

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:53pm

It was a dull show. A real director might have brought the production to life but that wasn't the case here. The book scenes dragged, the choreography was a careful re-creation of that in the movie, laugh lines fell flat and some of the roles were miscast.

Other than that it was fine.

[Parks]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 7:14pm

I heard that the version Michael Gruber did (and still does from time to time) was a revamped version--closer to the movie's script. We did it at my high school a few years ago and it wasn't awful--in fact, it was quite good, I though. I was wondering a few days ago if a revival on Broadway (of this allegedly revamped version) would work today with the right team behind it.

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 7:24pm

I saw it- & enjoyed it.

I was 8 month pregnant and my baby loved the music too.

Updated On: 7/20/09 at 07:24 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 7:31pm

Did it really "rain" though? That sounds cool.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 7:31pm

After asking my high school dance instructor, she claimed that there was some sort of dream sequence with a horse, which strikes me as the most unusual thing I've ever heard. Anyone care to elaborate?

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 7:56pm

The "Broadway Melody" dance number in the movie was switched up a bit for the musical. In the movie, Monumental Pictures changes the name of their first talkie from "The Deuling Cavillier" to "The Dancing Cavillier" (please try not to mind my awful spelling). The whole talkie was shot in 18th century France, and Cosmo's way of incorperating dancing into the talkie was to have a sandbag fall on Don's head, which would cause him to loose conscienceness and "transport" him back to 18th Century France. This would allow a big Broadway dance number to take place before the sandbag falls on Don, which doesnt make the random 1920's dance number out of place with the rest of the 18th century film.

In the Broadway production, in place of the "Broadway Melody" dance number, the whole "sandbag falling on Don's head" was cut, and they kept the dance sequence set in 18th century France. The sequence was still taking place in Cosmo's head and as he was imagining the dance number, it unfolded before the audience. It was not a big brassy 20's dance number like in the movie, but a sexy number where the whole cast was costumed in variations of 18th century clothing (the girls for instance wore big powdered wigs and corsettes but very short skirts, if I'm remembering correctly). The number began with a traditional 18th century waltz, then the "Dancing Cavallier" (Don) took the stage. He is offered a drink that happens to have poison in it, he gets knocked out, his dancing shoes are stollen by two men, and while hes knocked out he imagines being in a low down dive where he meets and dances with a very mysterious, very sexy girl. When he wakes up, he has his dancing shoes back, and the whole cast in their 18th century grab began to tap dance (bizarre, I know).

The begining of the second act of the musical on Broadway opened with a huge "Toyland" kind of sequence if you will. There were people dressed as toy soldiers, rag dolls, ect. The dance number was supposed to represent one of Monumental Picture's movies being filmed. Along with the "Toyland" sequence, there was a tangoish latin-y dance sequence, and a wild west sequence. In the wild west sequence, a big white horse danced around the stage.

Updated On: 7/20/09 at 07:56 PM

[musicow]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 2:46pm

I believe Twyla Tharp was fired as director at one point and replaced by Albert Marre (Man of La Mancha). Acting coach Larry Moss was also put on contract to work with the actors. After a short period of time, Mr. Marre was released, and Ms. Tharp rehired. In Steven Suskin's newest book about Broadway Orchestrators, he mentions that Michael Dansicker created the dance/incidental music (in addition to scoring the film sequences) and Larry Wilcox, the orchestrator, sensed doom from the getgo. I belive Choreographer John Carafa and the entire Twyla Tharp concert dance Company appeared in the original production. Mary Jo Slater (Christian's Mom) was the casting director and relocated to L.A. shortly after the opening.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 3:52pm

There were at least 2 visually delicious moments in the show... and yes, there was actual water/rain on stage for the "Singin' in the Rain" number.

For the "Singin' in the Rain" sequence, the entire street set was a complete unit with a brim which held the water build-up. The other great set was the house set for the "Good Morning" number which would slide in from the wings as the actors danced in each 'room'. As they moved into a 'new' room, the whole house/set would slide revealing the next room, etc.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 4:02pm

Even the logo was a misfire.

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 4:05pm

That has to be THE WORST Broadway poster I have ever seen. What were they thinking???

[morosco]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 4:07pm

For anyone even remotely interested in the Twyla Tharp production of Singing in the Rain here's a link to an in depth article that was published in New York Magazine in October of 1985. A really fascinating read about what went wrong (and what maybe went right) with the show.

The Amazing Saga of Singing in the Rain Updated On: 7/22/09 at 04:07 PM

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 4:51pm

Very very interesting article. Thank you so much for finding it morosco.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 7:37pm

On the other hand, I LOVED the British production at the Palladium staring Tommy Steele and Roy Castle the summer before. That production was great. Interestingly enough, they actually replaced "Make Em Laugh" with Cole Porter's "Be A Clown" which everyone knows Arthur Freed "borrowed" for the movie. Porter nearly had a ****fit when he happened to drop into the recording session for the movie musical tracks and heard what a blatant rip-off "Make Em Laugh" was, but, ever the gentleman, he held his tongue (especially as Freed was standing beside him at the time.)

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzneKaAR7rM

BTW, they first did the rain number and nobody could see the water - it's transparent and the light passes through it - and an old stage hand suggested they add milk to the mix, which they did (the old boy say this used in the 20s) and it worked great. But the next week, when the cast returned after a day off, the theater stank to high hell - they forgot to refrigerate the mix and it went sour. After that, they refrigerated the liquid and it worked well.

My mum was my guest to the show and she mentioned she had seen the orchestra donning slickers down in the pit. The first three rows of the audience discovered why....

[boyfromoz2]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 8:11pm

The 2002 Australian Production was great too - Todd McKenney (the original Peter Allen in Boy From Oz) played Don.

I vividly remember entering the theatre, giving the usher my ticket for the third row, receiving in return a poncho, and being warned to put it on during Good Morning.

When done well, it's a great show!

[Demitri2]

Posted: 7/22/09 at 9:18pm

Allof my life, There's another version as to why the rain water might have been off. Apparently Mr. Steele was so hated by the cast that many of the ensemble would pee in the rain water before the show and just smile as he later performed the number.