Singin’ In the Rain At Bradford Alhambra Review

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

This is a very colourful musical set in an innocent era. I’d never heard of ‘the talkies’ before this show. This was set in the mid 1920s when movies were just moving from silent movies with words brought up on the screen to ‘the talkies’ where, shock, horror… sound was actually linked to the film so people could be heard speaking or even singing. ‘It will never take off’ is uttered but we all know the outcome.

This show converted the 1952 film of the same name, which came 20th in a 2012 Sight and Sound magazine poll of greatest films ever made, in to a musical with the assistance of Michael Harrison and Jonathan Church as directors. It was really interesting to read the background that the film began as a collection of second hand show tunes.

Monumental pictures, who have secured and made stars of Don Lockwood (Sam Lips) and Lina Lamont (Jenny Gayner) are in competition with Warner Brothers, who produce the first ‘talkie’. Their next silent movie ends up being put back to try to work out how they can compete with ‘the talkie’. The whole show is set in ‘Hollywoodland’.

Don is a somewhat full of himself ‘actor’ who ends up besotted with Kathy Selden (Charlotte Gooch) after bumping in to her in the street. However, his fame is partly founded around the press view of his and Lina’s on screen romance being mirrored off screen.

The stage set up didn’t change much throughout the show, yet managed to look different with extra backdrops coming down and different lighting, with a few prop changes. The costumes were traditional dress of the era, with Charlotte Gooch getting to wear some very pretty and suitably swirlable dresses to dance in.

This show has a fairly large ensemble with a mix of women in very colourful dresses and men, sometimes in equally bright and colourful suits. The ensemble really brought the story together and they, along with the rest of the cast were all very energetic, with dancing and prancing around the stage as well as bouncing around. The physical agility and flexibility of the cast was remarkable.

Of note for me was Ross McLaren as Cosmo Brown. As the behind screen musical genius of the shows he is overlooked as he is not the front of stage star of the shows that Don is, yet he has some very funny parts. I particularly enjoyed him and Sam (as Don) singing ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’ with the associated sketch and his ability to fall over frequently on stage!

Vocally, the star of the show had to be Charlotte Gooch as Kathy, particularly ‘Lucky Star’ and ‘Would You’.

Top marks to Jenny Gayner as the very ditzy Lina too, particularly her drawling accent and interesting reprise of ‘Would You’. The scene showing her first recording of a ‘talkie’ is very amusing as is the scene where she is outed in a spectacular way after getting too big for her boots!

It would be remiss of me not to mention the obvious; cascades of water ‘raining’ on to the stage at the end of both acts. Don sings solo just before the interval and then the cast all sing, with umbrellas that are silver on the outside and brightly coloured on the inside at the very end of the show. It was very impressive to see how much water could fall and be splashed about each time (I was glad not to be in the first few rows of the audience at that point!)

The Alhambra is a lovely looking old building, set on a corner. It’s easy to find and we parked for just £1 (all evening after 6pm) in the car park behind the National Science and Media Museum just down the road.

I enjoyed the show. It was nice to see younger members of the audience as it’s a family friendly show (with no swearing).

Rating: I rate it a 4/5

Tickets cost from £18 to £57 (inclusive of booking fee)

Singin’ In The Rain is on at Bradford Alhambra between 11th and 16th July 2022.

For more information or to book tickets visit www.bradford-theatres.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01274 432000

Bradford Theatres, The Alhambra Theatre, Morley Street, Bradford, BD7 1AJ