One of the most famous American musicals. The movie was directed
by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, and the main actors were Gene
Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen and Cyd Charisse. It
tells the story of a young actor and showman in the 20s, with the
advent of sound in motion pictures.
The movie features awesome choregraphy very well integrated in
the story. The actors have great charm, with the simplicity of Debbie
Reynolds and the sophisticated beauty of Cyd Charisse. Gene Kelly
has never been so good and so funny.
While many Hollywood musicals were adapted from Broadway productions, Singin' in the rain is an exception: its producers and directors wrote the story and designed the choreography from scratch, using existing songs. On the contrary, a version for the London stage was derived from the movie in the 1960s. Another version was produced by the belgian Opéra Royal de Wallonie in year 2000. I saw it in Paris in 2002, and it gave quite the same enthusiastic feelings as the movie. Isabelle George was an excellent Kathy. The main actor, Joel Mitchell, had not Kelly's charism, but he had a tough job: he had to sing, and dance, in the rain every night...
Singin' in the rain is also the name of one of the
songs. Gene Kelly just saw his friend Kathy, who is now his
girlfriend, and he's coming back home. It's raining, and he starts
dancing with his umbrella. Everybody knows the music (I hope.)
I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
'Cause the sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I'll walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
'Cause I'm singing
Just singing in the rain.
I N T E R L U D E
I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
'Cause the sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I'll walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
'Cause I'm singing
Just singing in the rain.
Don't stop here! Read skeller's amazingly good writeup below!