Musicals Blog

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.