Review: Village's SINGIN' IN THE RAIN Fun but Lacks Spark

Arguably one of the best movie musicals there is, "Singin' in the Rain" has always held a very special place in my heart. Probably the first bit of entertainment that put me on the path of musical geekdom thanks to my Mom. So when I heard Village Theatre was putting up a stage production of the classic I was excited. And while every iconic moment from the movie is there (and I do mean EVERY one) and it was a fun night, the show lacks that special spark of the original and felt like a rehash of the bits of the movie but not so much the heart.

I'm not sure how you could not know what the show is about but in case, here goes. It's the late 1920's and silent film stars Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont (John David Scott and Jessica Skerritt) are the top Hollywood stars of the day and raking in the bucks for Monumental Pictures. But suddenly there's a new kind of movie on the horizon, the Talkies! Head of the studio, R.F. Simpson (Jeff Steitzer) realizes they must make the move to Talkies or perish and of course wants to bring over his biggest stars. The problem? Lina doesn't quite have a voice to match her beauty. In fact it's more like the shrill call of a dying toucan. But Don and his buddy Cosmo (Gabriel Corey) come up with a plan. They're get rising star (and Don's new girlfriend) Kathy Selden (Mallory King) to record all the speaking and singing for Lina and replace Lina's original soundtrack. But when Lina gets wind of this she has plans of her own.

The main issue I had with the production is that it's all just a descent imitation of the original film. All the elements are there and it's fun and all but, with a few exceptions, they just kind of miss the mark. Much of this stems from the fact that the cast is just not quite Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor and not the people themselves but the triple threatedness that they brought to the roles. Scott is quite the amazing hoofer and brings the charm and look of Kelly to the role but his voice isn't quite powerful enough. Corey has the comedy and dance skills and the voice, and his rendition of "Make 'Em Laugh" is a complete showstopper, but his character could have used more variation so he didn't always seem just there for one-liners. And King has the voice and the dancing chops but lacked that charm and character and the chemistry between her and Scott is almost non-existent. So while this show requires three triple threats we really only got three two-and-a-halfs.

As I said there were some exceptions. Skerritt owns the role of Lina Lamont and the show. Every single nuance of her ridiculous character is on point and her one big solo song (which is not in the movie) was worth the price of admission. And I also have to mention Ty Willis as the exasperated director Roscoe Dexter who brought in some absolutely hilarious moments as he tried to deal with Lina like a sleep deprived parent dealing with an obstinate toddler.

Director Steve Tompkins manages a fun show but it feels like a faded copy. The choreography from Katy Tabb looks to be almost entirely lifted from the movie, as do the costumes from Cynthia Savage. And while all that still makes for an entertaining night, this show could and should be so much more and they're just not quite there. So with my three letter rating system I give Village Theatre's production of "Singin' in the Rain" a satisfied but not blown away YAY-. If you're a fan of the movie you'll probably have a fine time but no more than if you just stayed home and watched the movie.

"Singin' in the Rain" performs at Village Theatre in Issaquah through December 31st and then moves to their Everett location running January 6th through the 29th. For tickets or information contact the Village Theatre box office in Issaquah at 425-392-2202 or in Everett at 425-257-8600 or visit them online at www.villagetheatre.org.

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