‘Singin’ in the Rain’ packs a wallop in Westchester

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David Begelman , Theater Critic 

What do the 1952 MGM film, “Singin’ in the Rain” starring Gene Kelly and the 1985 stage musical based upon it have in common? Answer: authorship by the power team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green and—can you believe it?—poor first reviews! It just goes to show you that critics can flop as easily as can producers.

The film, arguably the finest of its kind in cinema history, also starred Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. It’s a no brainer that along with Kelly, their performances were the highlights of their Hollywood careers.

The musical stage version of the show, currently being produced by the Westchester Broadway Theater, has the unenviable onus of living in the shadow of its illustrious movie predecessor. Yet invidious comparisons unfairly penalize what is a worthy adaptation, anyway. The current production in Westchester is ample proof of this.     

Both the original film and its musical stage adaptation are satires of Hollywood production manias. They are wrapped around the fallout of the transition from silent films to talkies, starting with Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer.” The received wisdom in tinsel town was that the career of John Gilbert, a leading man and co-star of Greta Garbo, evaporated after talkies disclosed how squeaky and inferior he was in the vocal department.

The rumor was probably untrue, although it provided grist for the depiction of a central character in the current show, Lina Lamont (played to gloriously screechy perfection by Allie Schauer). Lina is so hard on the ears her producer, R. F. Simpson (played by William McCauley with a bumbling sincerity far removed from the hard-bitten soul of a Louis B. Mayer) has to substitute someone else on the sound track of his new talkie. This turns out to be Kathy Seldon (played with a winning smile and triple-threat aptitude by Shannon M. O’Bryan).

Kathy has caught the romantic eye of Don Lockwood (played energetically by Jeremy Benton in the original Gene Kelly role) who just happens to be Lina’s co-star in such tasteless silent film epics as, “The Royal Rascal” and “The Dueling Cavalier.”

 Don’s sidekick, Cosmo Brown (played equally energetically by Cody Williams in the original Donald O’Connor role) provides moral support to his friend, not to mention some lively tap-dancing collaboration in numbers like, “Fit As A Fiddle.” Cosmo’s fetching number, “Make ‘em Laugh” has the same musical score as “Be A Clown” in another MGM masterpiece, “The Pirate” with Kelly and the incomparable Judy Garland.

The Westchester show has some stunning group numbers, staged beautifully by Director and choreographer Richard Stafford. It also makes innovative use of screened displays of scenes from swashbuckling films starring Lockwood and Lamont, while the former’s iconic number, “Singin’ in the Rain” (with real rain dowsed on the performer) brought the house down.

Performers made creative use of the aisles for exits and entrances in the 500-seat dinner theater, while Andrew Gmoser’s Lighting Design was a thing of beauty. John Daniels’ Musical Direction enhanced a production well worth seeing.

“Singin’ in the Rain” runs throughl June 12^th at the Westchester Broadway Theatre, 1 Broadway Plaza, Elmsford, NY. Dinner theater schedules are Wednesday and Thursday matinees 11:30 a.m. lunch and 1:00 p.m. show; Sunday matinees 12 p.m. lunch and 1:30 p.m. show; Thursday to Saturday, 6:30 p.m. dinner and 8:00 p.m. show; Sunday 5:30 p.m. dinner and 7 p.m. show. Tickets are $52 to $75 plus tax, inclusive and may be purchased by calling the box office at 914-592-2222 or contacting  www.BroadwayTheatre.com.