Singin’ in the Rain (UK Tour)

This tour has come straight from the West End with some of the cast being involved as well. I saw it on Saturday night at the Sunderland Empire where it has a few week stint, after seeing it and all the water involved on the stage I can understand why it is having lengthy stays in theatres. It must take some setting up for the different scenes but more about that later!

The story is based around two very famous film stars well-known for their silent films and the transition into the talkie pictures. It has a bit of everything well-known songs like Good Morning, Make ‘Em Laugh and of course the classic Singin’ in the Rain. The show will not fail to make you smile throughout as it really is such a feel good thing to watch. It will make you laugh and you will find some of the scenes heartwarming as well.

I thought Stephane Anelli as Cosmo really stole the show as well with his wise cracks and funny reactions to pretty much anything such an impressive actor to watch. Plus he gets to sing and dance around to Make ‘Em Laugh, which really was a very well received part of the show and had some fantastic moments which will really make you laugh.

At the performance I saw Matthew Malthouse took on the role of Don Lockwood instead of James Leece. He really was fantastic and held the audience in a fantastic way. I would never have guessed he was an understudy with the amazing performance he gave in the role, just brilliant to watch!

I was sat in the front row and knew the warning about the first six rows will get wet with the water! So it was a very interesting experience wondering how wet exactly we were going to get from the water on the stage. But you don’t just have Singin’ in the Rain once, we get an encore at the end with the entire cast on the stage with umbrellas and kicking the water about. So the answer about sitting in the front row is that you get rather wet with many splashes of water towards you. I think in different theatres to the Sunderland Empire you might just get even wetter. The stage is raised up a lot higher than for other shows as they have steps up. I’ve sat in the front row a few times now and could see more than in this show.

Nothing better than watching the Singin’ in the Rain scene with a man dancing and singing in the rain with the fantastic stage effects with all the water falling from the sky. It really does not fail to make you smile and feel good about everything, who hasn’t wanted to actually do all of that when it is raining outside? It is totally worth the wait for that musical number!

I’d only just watched the film version last month and have to say the show is true to the film and the story is totally spot on which is brilliant to see. I didn’t think I knew that many songs really well but that did not make a difference this is a fantastic show and well worth the trip to the theatre. It is on at the Sunderland Empire until Saturday 1st February, so if you’re in the North East of England get yourself along for the show!