I'm Singing in the Rain!

So i just looked out the window and realized that it is raining and I figured that there would be no better time to write about my cultural event that I attended this week! This week I went to the play Singing in the Rain at the Hale Center Theater in Orem.  It was such a great experience and so much fun!  I was going to attend Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, however it just didn't really work into my schedule so I set out on a quest for another theatrical performance  I could attend and I found Singing in the Rain last minute on monday right before class.  I asked Jasie for permission to see it that day in class and then that night my fiance and I were sitting in the theater watching it! 

The Hale Center Orem theater is not really much to look at on the outside... and at first, not on the inside either.  It was a small little theater with probably 80 or so seats squished all around the stage.  The stage is just a small little area in the middle of the room, and there is also a small raised area of the stage on the back wall. So at first we were not to impressed...

Anyways, we bought our tickets (which i would recommend getting ahead of time, because we got the last two seats in the house and they were in the very back corner, but we were able to see really well anyways).  And we were given student discounts so the two tickets were only $15.00 total which was awesome! 

As the play started I realized that the whole theater was the stage for the actors and suddenly a not so impressive theater turned into the wonderful world of Hollywood Show-biz!  For those who don't know, the play is about the Hollywood in the 1920's. A time of transition from silent films to Talking pictures.  The main characters are Don Lockwood, a wonderful actor, singer, and dance, and his screen partner Lina Lamont, a beautiful but awful singer, and dancer with a very naisaly annoying voice.  Lina loves Don and wants him to love her, but He can not get past her selfish and annoying tendencies which creates friction between the screen couple.  One night Don meets Kathy Seldon, an aspiring actress who is both beautiful and talented on the stage and  Don soon falls madly in love with her.

The new talking picture craze is sweeping the nation and Lockwood & Lamont are expected to join in, however there is one problem... Lina's voice.  She is attractive to look at but when she opens her mouth no audience can stand to listen to her! So Kathy, Don, and Don's best friend Cosmo Brown (a talented muscian who works for the movie studio) devise the plan to have Lina lip sink the songs and lines, while Kathy does the real voice.  the movie is a hit and everyone loves Kathy's voice but Lina does not want the world and her fans to know that she is not really the one singing and talking and she tries to force Kathy into being her voice for the next 5 years.  Don and Cosmo are not about to let Kathy's career go down the drain like that so they trick Lina into lip singing in public and then pull back the curtains so the whole audience can see Kathy really singing in the background! 

All in all its a wonderful play with amazing music, plot, and characters!  I was extremely impressed by how good the performance was as well! There were many amazing and talented actors and actresses! The best part of the show was the actor who played Cosmo Brown, who is the comedic relief of the show!  He was so good! He reminded me a lot of Jim Carey in his acting and mannerisms!  He was just tall and goofy and he really stayed in character very well! 

Another wonderful part of the show was the song Singing in the Rain.  During this song the theater turned on sprinklers in the ceiling, so it literally rained in the middle of the theater! They gave everyone in the first row a yellow pancho to wear to keep from getting wet... however Don (who was singing and dancing in the rain) found it fun fling water off of his umbrella onto the audience and make lots of splashes up into the seats.  It was so much fun! And everyone in the audience really enjoyed the experience! 

I would rate this performance an 8 out of 10... The acting was great! but the singing was not as up to par as other small theaters I have been to.  Also the concession stand was not as well stocked as I would have wished it was... I was really craving popcorn... haha... and they didn't have any! But it was still awesome and the price was great as well! 

Overall I waked away happy and uplifted.  I love the musical theater because they are full of wonderful songs and characters that I think everyone can relate to! I plan on returning to the Hale Center Theater to see other plays that they put on!