This evening we sat in the Birmingham Hippodrome audience watching Singin’ in the Rain, a musical that takes its inspiration from the movie which premiered nearly 70 years ago (September 1952).
The production is set in Hollywood, in the diminishing days of the silent screen era. Monumental Pictures are worrying that their competitors will take over as they struggle to move to talking movies. Don Lockwood (Sam Lips) is a silent film star, the romantic lead playing the on-set boyfriend to Lina Lamont (Jenny Gayner). They manage to create the perfect vision of being very much in love when on stage but off-set Don can’t stand Lina and later falls in love with Lina’s voice-over. Complicated indeed! Don’s best friend, Cosmo Brown (Ross McLaren) is determined to save the production company and with the help of aspiring actress Kathy Selden (Charlotte Gooch) who has the most beautiful of voices, they manage to keep the production company beating their rivals in their new talking movie.
Everything about this show ticked all the right boxes. The stage and set design transported you to Hollywood. The use of bright colours and fabulous lighting transformed the stage over and over again, capturing your attention at all times. The outstanding acting and performance from the cast and ensemble, the special effects, the rain (oh my gosh this was amazing on a live stage), the choreography. Everything was perfect.
I came out at the end and just kept saying how amazed I was that they could remember so many lines, sing so perfectly (or totally imperfectly in Lina’s case) and remember all the fabulous choreography.
The talent on the stage was exceptional. Sam Lips really shone as Don Lockwood. He played the lead role phenomenally. Making the audience laugh throughout. His ability to stay on the stage and perform so perfectly, making the dancing, singing and acting appear so easy when it must have actually been so difficult to do. Real talent!
The same can be said for Charlotte Gooch and Jenny Gayner who both had an abundance of talent.
This is such a fabulous show and well worth booking tickets to see.
Where else do they actually perform in a pool of water with 14,000 litres of water pouring down on them? No where.
Singin’ in the Rain is buckets of fun, full of exceptional talent. You will laugh, swoon and be left wanting more. Catch it at Birmingham Hippodrome until June 11th 2022.
Disclaimer: We were invited along to review the show. All thoughts and views are entirely our own.