‘Singin’ in the Rain’ @ Garland Summer Musicals
—Ann Saucer
Garland Summer Musical’s sparkling production of the 20th-century classic Singin’ in the Rain (screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green; songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed) delivers all the joyous energy of the blockbuster 1952 movie of the same name. Running through June 23 at Garland’s Granville Arts Center, this musical production (Patty Granville is the director) makes a fantastic family-friendly destination.
The audience is first treated to a medley from the live orchestra (Christopher Widomski conducting), a fun intro to Singin’ in the Rain’s many hit songs. The acoustics (Jay Hogg’s sound) are lovely, and a rhapsody from the horn section is particularly jaunty. And the Granville Arts Center, in addition to comfortable velvet seats and leg room, has a platform that lowers the musicians before the curtain opens.
The sparkling carpe diem spirit that defines this musical shines through from the start, as a bevy of bellhops tap dance before a scrim of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Once we get inside, the stage bedazzles in shimmering golds and lushly draped reds. The set (design by Rodney Dobbs) is impressive for its sheer complexity and the number of soaring backdrops. The costumes (Michael Robinson) are phenomenal. Beginning with the adorable bellhops’ brass-button coats and red pill-box hats, to the stars’ evening gowns dripping with jewels, the sophisticated period costumes will make you wish for a feathered fascinator.
Robin Coulonge starts off the excellent cast as Dora Bailey, a Joan Rivers-type who narrates the arrivals of the rich and famous, with hilarious jibes at their money-based marriages. Silent film stars Don Lockwood (Joseph Jones) and Lina Lamont (Caitlin Miles) are introduced as a steamy romantic couple—though as one of them will later quip, “there’s nothing between us but air.”
Thus starts a series of “reveals” that feed the comedy and knit the story together. Nothing is what it seems in Tinsel Town. When Don describes his allegedly dignified upbringing to his adoring fans, the audience is shown the truth via comic scenes at O’Malley’s Bar. Adorable tap-dancing child actors, Noah Beitchman and Daniel Long, are rudely man-handled in a flashback to Don and Cosmo’s (Patrick Pevehouse) childhood, which was anything but privileged.
The biggest Hollywood lie is the disconnect between Lina’s on-screen presence and her actual voice and personality. But the things-are-not-as-they-appear theme runs even deeper. The character whose mike is cut ends up being the most influential. The person who starts out haughtily bleating about Shakespeare and Ibsen is really a font of down-to-earth sweetness. The character whose stupidity is a running gag ultimately delivers the most intelligent lines of all (life hack: don’t scrimp on contract lawyers). The liar ultimately exposes the truth. And the man in charge turns out to be an indecisive flip-flopper.
The flashbacks illustrating Don and Cosmo’s song-and-dance partnership are not just funny because Don deceives his fans, but also explain the wonderful friendship between the two men. This play is about the backstory bromance as much as about the boy-girl romance that unfolds. Singin’ in the Rain serves up one glorious musical number after the other, and one of the most original, “Moses Supposes,” crackles with the men’s comradery as they spontaneously riff a song out of a silly line from a pretentious vocal coach (a comically stuck-up Steven Beene).
Jones and Pevehouse are well cast for their song-and-dance chops, but further capture their characters’ sheer likeability. With personalities forged from a lifetime of live performances, often in seedy venues, Don and Cosmo know how to live in the moment and not sweat the small stuff. Both Jones and Pevehouse are delightful to watch; they capture a graceful confidence that lacks arrogance.
The show’s spangly chorus lines are notable for the dancers’ synchronicity (choreography by Jones with Cassidy Moore). All the musical numbers come off well. One highlight is Pevehouse’s “Make ‘Em Laugh.” His mastery of slapstick is worth the price of admission. Yes, it includes the stage dummy and the workers’ two-by-four. And for those who love the movie, Don, Cosmo, and Kathy Selden (Hayley Ewerz) do upend the couch at the end of “Good Morning.”
Objectively speaking, though, it is not a “good morning.” Disaster looms. For this threesome, however, the fact that they have a plan—albeit to accomplish something completely unprecedented—is enough.
Ewerz has the gorgeous voice necessary for the part of ingenue Kathy, and her performance holds to the girl-next-store kindness that defines the role. As the anti-hero(ine?) Lina, Miles does a hilarious job not learning proper diction, thus driving her poor vocal coach, Miss Dinsmore (performed to prim perfection by Sally Soldo) to near-madness. But after belting out “What’s Wrong with Me?” in her dressing room, Miles succeeds in making you root for Lina—or at least feel for her. James Williams convinces as the waffling studio head R.F. Simpson.
A multi-generational family sat behind me. The little girl favored the chorus lines, and the little boy the title number. He had no idea there was a movie, didn’t know who Gene Kelly was—and so his enjoyment was quite the testament to Jones’ ability to deliver on a treasured song-and-dance classic. While he taps and splashes along—just singin’ in the rain, you know?—the charming Jones captures the optimism and aplomb that define this well-loved song.
Fans of the movie will also appreciate that scenes from it are used in Garland’s production. There is a movie-within-a-play, and movie cuts are displayed on a projector. The audience thereby gets to see the parade of technical horrors (saved forever on film!) that occur when a silent film star tries her first “talkie.”
Garland Summer Musical’s Singin’ in the Rain is a fast-paced delight that captures the elegant happiness of the movie. You may not be lucky enough to find yourself singin’ in the rain this July or August—but with luck, this cool tune will stay in your head through the summer heat.
WHEN: June 14-23, 2024
WHERE: Granville Arts Center, 300 N. Fifth Street, Garland TX
WEB: garlandsummermusicals.org
