Singing in the Rain

I had occasion to watch a preview of the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre's (MPAC) production of Singing in the Rain last night, and I must say that I was quite blown away by some of the achievements they have made for this show.

The show opens tonight (Thursday 8th November) and will be running for a limited season of 2 weekends. With tickets at only $30 for adults I feel the pricing is quite reasonable, and if you can get a group of 8 or more together you get a discount! (For a group of 20 they give you two free tickets!)

Technical Director Shane Podolski has made some HUGE achievements with this show. I was involved in Beauty and the Beast with MPAC earlier this year and felt that that was a sleek show with impressives techs. My jaw hit the floor watching some of the effects produced for Singing in the Rain.

The cast of 38 performers (many of which I believe are treading the boards for the first time) have worked extremely hard with Directorn Susan Vincent and Musical Director Lindsay Gould to give an energetic performance and breathe life once again into a well loved story. And choreographer Lee Lawrence has set the bar extremely high for what I believe is one of the most difficult shows where dance is concerned. She has clearly worked the long hours with this cast and has produced some spectacular results.

The show features Andrew Thompson as Don Lockwood, Natalie Edge as Kathy Seldon, Adam O'Connor-McMahon as Cosmo Brown and Janine Bramall as Lina Lamont. These four talented young people lead the ensemble in such great numbers as Broadway Melody and own the stage during their featured solos and duets. Of particular note is Fit as a Fiddle in which Thompson and O'Connor-McMahon show off their fancy footwork and Lucky Star in which Edge will fly you to the moon with her sweet, dulcet tones. The on-stage chemistry came through clear and strong between the four leads and Bramall is to be commended for her highly developed sense of comic timing.

Remember that Mandurah is really not all that far from Perth - the drive takes less than an hour on the freeway. It is not often you will get to see a piece of community theatre with such technical achievements. Mandurah Performing Arts Centre's Singing in the Rain is certain to take a page in the community theatre history books - don't miss out on seeing it for yourself.

Hey All, I saw Singing in the Rain last night (opening night) and overall I enjoyed myself. I think that they must've still been working out a lot of the tech stuff tho. There were a few times when stuff just didn't work, like the movies and some sloppy flies and set changes. I reckon once they've done a few runs though all of that will be sorted and it'll be an awesome show. I thought some of the singing was a bit off though. The guys who played Don and Cosmo went flat in a few places, but then I guess they were doing all that dancing. I couldn't dance that much and then still sing perfectly, so maybe I shouldn't complain. Lina was AWESOME! She looked great and her delivery was excellent. The dancing was a mixed bag. The leads did a great job but some of the chorus sequences seemed under-rehearsed. Some of the 'back-line' dancers in the reprise of Singing in the Rain didn't look comfortable either - maybe consider getting them to stand still and sing rather than try and do moves they're clearly not ready for. At the end of the day, I'm gonna try and get down to Mandurah to see the show again next weekend. I reckon that once they get all their techs sorted out its gonna be fantastic. Break a leg for the rest of your season guys :)

Opening Night

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