Review Roundup: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN at Royal Exchange Theatre

Raz Shaw has returned to The Royal Exchange Theatre to stage SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, a musical that traces the shift from silent movies to ‘the talkies’, is full of wit, charm and famous song and dance routines.

This production has transformed Exchange’s unique in-the-round stage for Christmas 2025, and will run until 25 January. See what the critics are saying here...

Catherine Love, The Guardian:  The Exchange’s recent Christmas offerings have often had a more quirky or topical flavour, be it last year’s Spend Spend Spend or 2022’s musical telling of the life of Betty Boothroyd. This year, by contrast, the approach is sheer, unapologetic joy. As a respite from doom-scrolling, it feels both necessary and infectious. By the puddle-stomping finale, resistance is futile.

Joseph, Theatre and Tonic: Technically, the show was stunning with a few set pieces that I don’t want to give too much away, but how they incorporate silent film into live theatre was truly magical, and if you’re sat in the stalls, you might get a little bit wet, but I assure you it will be worth it. Singin’ in the Rain is a love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood, that leaves everyone with a smile on their face. 

Holly Williams, The Times: While I’m a sucker for any tap-dancing sequence, there is something particularly thrilling about seeing Alistair David’s tightly drilled yet playful choreography performed in the round. It feels both live and distinctly intimate. It’s rare in a large-scale musical that an audience gets close enough to really feel involved — but here the crowd adores moments of well-judged, subtly cheeky acknowledgment of their presence. Not least when Gaunt pops open his umbrella before the rain starts for the title song, as if resigned to the drenching he’s about to get. Sprinklers duly flood the stage, but never mind the precipitation: this production is pure bottled sunshine.

Mark Brown, The Telegraph: The seeming innocence of the production is punctured occasionally by another, very British form of nostalgia, as moments of innuendo take us from the assiduous decency of early cinema to the nudge-wink humour of the Carry On films. From stylish start to its big, rain-coated finale, this brilliantly executed musical is a total crowd-pleaser – and just the thing for a Christmas treat.