It’s 10 years since Jonathan Church’s stage version of Singin’ in the Rain came to life at Chichester festival theatre, showering the front rows with water during the title number; delighting everyone else with its faithful rendering of the iconic movie and fast-footed set-piece routines such as the great Good Morning. The show may be resting slightly on its laurels for this return. There’s still plenty of charm, but it’s a little low on vim.
Adam Cooper has played leading man Don Lockwood (the Gene Kelly role) since the start. A former star of the Royal Ballet and Matthew Bourne’s male-chorus Swan Lake, he was a dancer with edge and bristling sex appeal. At 50, he’s mellowed, and his dancing has less vigour, which is fitting for this gentle show if not quite as thrilling. Cooper’s singing and acting, however, have matured over the years to make him a convincing all-rounder as silent movie star Lockwood, navigating the move into talkies somewhat better than glamorous Lina Lamont (Faye Tozer from Steps), whose mangled vowels have to be dubbed by sparky actress and love interest Kathy Selden (the very polished Charlotte Gooch). Tozer is excellent as the deluded diva, consistently funny and surprisingly sympathetic in the brief, poignant moment when her self-worth wobbles.
Kevin Clifton (from Strictly) plays Don’s sidekick Cosmo Brown, probably the hardest-working person on stage, delivering the goofball slapstick of a number like Make ’Em Laugh – without quite the mania of the movie’s Donald O’Connor. Clifton has a lovely voice, too, although it’s not (yet) as megawatt as his dancing. The stand-out singer is actually Sam Lips and his buttery smooth croon on Beautiful Girl.
Church has chosen not to mess too much with one of the greatest movie musicals of all time but there could be an advantage in tightening it up for the stage, shrinking the space between big numbers, dropping a few jokes – although the re-creations of stilted silent films are very amusing, and Andrew Wright’s choreography fills the stage with life and colour in Act II’s ballets. There is easy enjoyment, if not tonight the alchemical X-factor.
Singin’ in the Rain is at Sadler’s Wells, London, until 5 September.
