Singin’ in the Rain

Playhouse on Park in West Hartford

By: Karen Isaacs - Jul 26, 2025

Can you take one of the best movie musicals of all time and reduce the cast to just eight people and still capture the brilliance of the original?

Playhouse on Park in West Hartford attempts that with their current production of “Singin’ in the Rain” and succeeds for the most part. Director Evan Hoffman created this version.

This is a new version of the movie, not the Broadway adaptation, which has been produced with a reduced cast in smaller venues.

The Playhouse on Park version has a new premise. We don’t just dive into the plot. The production begins with an audience assembling for a screening of the classic movie. However, just moments in, a malfunction stops the screening. Soon, audience members are scurrying around; they plan to enact the film themselves. Do we need this framing? Other theaters have demonstrated that the original Broadway production can be successfully performed with a small cast.

One of the problems for me is that this wasn’t that clear. If I hadn’t read the publicity about the show, I am not sure how quickly I would have caught on to what was going on.

The talented cast do, in fact, duplicate most of the film. Two “bonus” numbers – songs that were initially in the film but did not make the finished product – are included. Neither makes a strong case that they should have been on the screen.

In case you don’t remember the plot, it is the late 1920s, and a popular silent screen couple (Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont) find their careers in jeopardy as talking pictures take the country by storm. Lockwood doesn’t have a problem – he sings, dances, and has a fine speaking voice, but Lamont does not recognize that her voice does not reflect the sexy, upper-class characters she portrays. Plus, she can’t sing and can barely dance.

As the studio decides to convert their latest picture to an all-singing, all-dancing film, that creates a problem. It’s solved by having Lamont’s voice replaced by that of Kathy Seldon, a young and very talented performer.

An added complication is that Lamont believes all the studio publicity about a romance with Lockwood, who has fallen for Seldon. While she seemingly has the studio over the barrel and plans to crush Seldon’s career, Lockwood, his friend Cosmo Brown and the studio boss find a way to derail her plan.

All ends happily. The original starred Gene Kelly (who co-choreographed), Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.

Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote the original plot; most of the music was earlier compositions by Nacio Herb Brown and film producer Arthur Freed. Many had been used in other films.

As Lockwood and his choreographer/director buddy Cosmo Brown, Daniel Plimpton and Robert Mintz are standouts. In “Gotta Dance,” the two demonstrate their outstanding tap-dancing skills, executing Mintz’s choreography. Plimpton has charm to spare and a lovely light baritone. Lindsay Gloriana Bohon as Kathy Seldon holds her own with the two and displays a light soprano voice. Mintz has a great solo in “Make ‘em Laugh,” the number that Donald O’Connor made famous. Mintz references that choreography.

Every cast member plays multiple roles, which creates confusion at times. It was confusing at times to know whether Parker Joh was playing studio boss RF Simpson or someone else. Is Juno Brosas Zelda, Lina’s friend, or someone else? The same applies to Patrick MacLennan, whose multiple roles, including studio PR head, are not always clearly differentiated.

Hoffman handled the multiple actors playing the role of the film director Roscoe Dexter cleverly by using a distinctive hat, jacket, walk, and gruff voice.

Everyone knows the iconic Gene Kelly choreography to the title number, where he splashed in puddles during a heavy rainstorm. Does it rain on stage? Yes and no. The number begins with the ensemble making the sounds of rain with their hands, but it ends with actual rain.

Carolyn Burke as Lina Lamont has the difficult job of singing “Would You” – a lovely ballad – off-key. That is challenging for any good singer, which Burke is.

The costumes by Vilinda McGregor effectively capture the late ‘20s look. The sound design by Brandon Bulls is occasionally too loud, but most of the time it is appropriate for the theater. Music Director Melanie Guerin leads the small ensemble.

At times, the dance numbers are overlong given the small cast; this drags out the show, particularly in the first act, which clocks in at over 90 minutes.

It might surprise audiences to know that, although the movie is now considered one of the best original musical films, it was not a major success and was not nominated for Oscars for Best Picture or Best Choreography. It had just two nominations – Jean Hagen for her role as Lina Lamont, and best scoring of a film.

For tickets, visit PlayhouseOnPark.org