Singin’ in the Rain (Quarry Bank Musical Theatre Society)
If there’s a particular musical that caused me to ‘get the bug’ for that specific genre, it is probably the 1952 movie version of Singin’ in the Rain, it might have been Cyd Charisse’s unfeasibly long legs, Donald O’Connor’s energetic and comedic performance of ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’ or the electricity between Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds but, something hooked me and I’ve never looked back, I blame my mother as it’s probably her favourite movie and she introduced me to it at an early age.
Quarry Bank Musical Theatre Society are currently in final rehearsals of their production of this classic before they move into Brierley Hill Civic Hall for performances and I managed to catch one of those rehearsals, so let me caveat what I am about to write with the point that this is a ‘Rehearsal Review’, sadly I didn’t get to see the ‘rain’ (although I did think my offer to throw a bucket of water over Richard Cope as Don Lockwood in order to bring some reality to the scene was a generous one). Neither did I see the costumes, the set or the full array of props but, what I did see is a company that are primed like a coiled spring to explode on to the stage.
Back to the cast and that man Richard Cope as Don Lockwood, there is something distinctly calming about his performance that puts an audience at ease, you simply know that when he’s asked to belt out a song, drift into a dance number or just deliver some important dialogue he will nail it every time. He is joined by a trio of equally talented performers, Danny Teitge as highly comic and super confident Cosmo Brown, ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’ is a joy and I can only imagine that joy will overflow once he has a full array of props to work with, Francesca Handley as a beguiling Kathy Selden with a voice that powers through every song like a hot knife through butter and Louise Griffin as a sassy, uncompromising Lina Lamont, totally enveloping the role with a great piece of character acting and an accent that effectively irritates, exactly as it’s meant to.
Making-up the film studio management team, trying desperately to keep Lockwood & Lamont current, interesting and profitable are Mike James as forthright studio owner RF Simpson, Jake Winwood as exasperated director Roscoe Dexter and Lee Connelly as frustrated public relations guy Rod, sadly they are no match for Miss Lamont and it takes the ingenuity of Don and Cosmo to finally reveal Lina’s scheming and reunite Don with Kathy as in all great love stories.
Watch out for a some engaging cameo roles with Jo Tranter as diction coach Miss Dinsmore including her slightly unwilling, yet entertaining participation in the ‘Moses Supposes’ number, an exceptional delivery of the song ‘Beautiful Girl’ by Tom Robinson as the Production Tenor and Keshia Herbert as a delightfully eccentric Dora Bailey.
If this rehearsal is anything to go by, the production team of Steve Ganner (Director), Richard Ganner (Musical Director) and Donna Jones (Choreographer) will deliver something special to the stage from 4th to 8th June 2019.
I hear tickets are selling fast so let me pose you a question when it comes to whether you should see this production or not, ‘I would, would you’ ?
Book Here
Quarry Bank Musical Theatre Society are currently in final rehearsals of their production of this classic before they move into Brierley Hill Civic Hall for performances and I managed to catch one of those rehearsals, so let me caveat what I am about to write with the point that this is a ‘Rehearsal Review’, sadly I didn’t get to see the ‘rain’ (although I did think my offer to throw a bucket of water over Richard Cope as Don Lockwood in order to bring some reality to the scene was a generous one). Neither did I see the costumes, the set or the full array of props but, what I did see is a company that are primed like a coiled spring to explode on to the stage.
Back to the cast and that man Richard Cope as Don Lockwood, there is something distinctly calming about his performance that puts an audience at ease, you simply know that when he’s asked to belt out a song, drift into a dance number or just deliver some important dialogue he will nail it every time. He is joined by a trio of equally talented performers, Danny Teitge as highly comic and super confident Cosmo Brown, ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’ is a joy and I can only imagine that joy will overflow once he has a full array of props to work with, Francesca Handley as a beguiling Kathy Selden with a voice that powers through every song like a hot knife through butter and Louise Griffin as a sassy, uncompromising Lina Lamont, totally enveloping the role with a great piece of character acting and an accent that effectively irritates, exactly as it’s meant to.
Making-up the film studio management team, trying desperately to keep Lockwood & Lamont current, interesting and profitable are Mike James as forthright studio owner RF Simpson, Jake Winwood as exasperated director Roscoe Dexter and Lee Connelly as frustrated public relations guy Rod, sadly they are no match for Miss Lamont and it takes the ingenuity of Don and Cosmo to finally reveal Lina’s scheming and reunite Don with Kathy as in all great love stories.
Watch out for a some engaging cameo roles with Jo Tranter as diction coach Miss Dinsmore including her slightly unwilling, yet entertaining participation in the ‘Moses Supposes’ number, an exceptional delivery of the song ‘Beautiful Girl’ by Tom Robinson as the Production Tenor and Keshia Herbert as a delightfully eccentric Dora Bailey.
If this rehearsal is anything to go by, the production team of Steve Ganner (Director), Richard Ganner (Musical Director) and Donna Jones (Choreographer) will deliver something special to the stage from 4th to 8th June 2019.
I hear tickets are selling fast so let me pose you a question when it comes to whether you should see this production or not, ‘I would, would you’ ?
Book Here
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