SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1985 Broadway production)

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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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!