Singin' in the Rain
by Claire J Rottenberg
"Singin' in the Rain" was a hit movie in 1952 and
since then it has become a classic. It is considered
one of the best films of all time by the American
Film Institute and in 1989, "Singin' in the Rain" was
added by the Library of Congress to the National Film
Registry. The film starred Gene Kelly, Donald
O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds.
In 1983, Tommy Steele starred in and directed the
first stage version of "Singin' in the Rain" in
London's West End. The producers of the stage version
hired the original authors of the screenplay, Betty
Comden and Adolph Green, to write the book for the
musical. Peter Gennaro did the choreography for the
play.
"Singin' in the Rain" was a hit in London, playing
for over two years, but it did not have the same
success when it was transferred to Broadway in 1985.
It ran for only 367 performances on Broadway. It had,
however, an unusually long preview run, with 38
preview performances.
The play was revised when it moved to Broadway and
Twyla Tharp replaced Tommy Steele as director and
Peter Gennaro as choreographer. The Broadway version
of "Singin' in the Rain" had a long score, with 9 of
the original 11 songs from the film version plus 8
new songs. Both the London and Broadway versions
included the memorable "Singin' in the Rain" number,
complete with a rain shower.
Although the Broadway version of "Singin' in the
Rain" did not achieve the success of the London
version or the movie version, it was nominated for
two Tony awards, one for Best Book of a Musical and
one for the lead actor, Don Correia.