SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN

A review by Tanya Howard

This Christmas The Mill At Sonning are showcasing Singin’ In The Rain The Musical, which was adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name. Although this particular production has been brought into the 21^st century with a young lady watching the film on her phone and then it plays out before the audience.

It’s 1927 in Hollywood and the action begins on the evening of the premiere of Monumental Studios’, a major film production company, latest silent movie The Royal Rascal featuring Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont.

Despite being on screen love interests and the paparazzi speculating on their affiliation Lockwood is not interested in Lamont, although she will not accept this and has convinced herself there is more to their relationship.

As silent movies lose their audience to talking pictures, the studio realise they have a very big problem moving forward, Lamont’s voice. Although Sammy Kelly was great in the role of Lamont, she could have definitely gone a lot further with her attempt at a shrill and irritating voice that would empty a room in seconds.

Lockwood, and his childhood friend Cosmo make Ashley Nottingham’s choreography look easy and elegant with their dance talent. Every musical number was a joy to watch and I’m sure a number of the audience felt like tap dancing their way out of the theatre.

Rebecca Jaynes-Davies starred as Kathy Selden, the actual love interest of Lockwood, had an incredible voice and I was mesmerised whenever she took to the stage to sing.

Although not quite as captivated as I was when the rain sequences began, especially the closing number where the entire cast took to the stage in coloured macs, dancing in the rain and taking a lot of joy in splashing the audience members.

I was really interested to find out how they would actually show the rain, as you can’t really do this particular show without it. I was thrilled to hear that The Mill had got the same team in to do the rain scenes as were used at the Sadler’s Wells production. The front row sat there at their own risk but were well prepared with blankets to hide under to not get too wet.

The show was put together really well and is running until 8^th February 2020 and I would definitely recommend getting yourself a ticket. Not only do you get to see a great show but tickets at The Mill At Sonning always come with dinner and dessert (or lunch at matinee performances) and you just have to try the Steak Pie from the buffet selection as it’s basically never allowed to leave the menu because of popular demand.