CYT’s ‘Singin’ in the rain’ bubbles with energy
Cosmo (Matthew Leskinen), Kathy (Gabriella Blatt-Prevatt) and Don (David Wagenknecht) stay up late and break into “Good Morning” in a scene from Christian Youth Theatre’s “Singin’ in the Rain.”
By Marilyn Jozwik
Published Feb. 18, 2020
Perhaps when Christian Youth Theatre held auditions for
“Singin’ in the Rain” one of the requirements for the main character was “must be willing to get totally drenched while singing.”
The group found their man in David Wagenknecht, who was
accompanied by a strong leading cast as well as dozens of flapper-dressed tappers, rain slickered dancers and other characters.
No production seems to be too big for this group of talented
youngsters, who have staged a number of big musicals, including “Peter Pan” that featured airborne characters.
It’s hard to imagine the famous roles in the 1952 movie –
played by Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor – handled by teenagers. Yet, the performers selected for those and other roles proved mature and more than capable.
Lina (Mackensie Joranlien) “sings” to her fans in a scene from Christian Youth Theatre’s “Singin’ in the Rain.”
The story is set in 1927 Hollywood, as the first talking picture has burst onto the scene. Silent movie stars Lina Lamont (Mackenzie
Joranlien) and Don Lockwood (Wagenknecht) have a big stable of adoring fans and their movies for Monumental Studios have been big hits. They have been linked romantically, but it is a one-way street: Lina thinks everybody adores her, and the studio thinks the illusion of their romance is good publicity. When Lockwood falls in love with a struggling actress at his studio, Kathy Selden (Gabriella Blatt-Prevatt), Lina is furious and has Kathy fired.
But more storm clouds are brewing for Monumental Studios.
Their latest silent film starring Lockwood and Lamont won’t fly with the advent of talkies, which have become the rage. So, Cosmo Brown (Matthew Leskinen), Lockwood’s friend and vaudeville partner, convinces the studio to turn their silent movie into a musical. The only problem is, Lina can’t sing … and her speaking voice is like fingernails on a blackboard.
A bevy of dancers in lovely, gossamer costumes take the stage for the “Beautiful Girl” scene.
A plan is devised in which Selden’s voice, unbeknownst to
Lamont, is dubbed in and the show is a huge success. The cherry on the top is Lamont’s comeuppance.
This was a cast of some 90 youngsters directed by Amy
Paxton, with Brooke Funk serving as assistant director and co-choreographer. Jessica Marks was vocal director, Sydney Rovik choreographer and Angie Wagenknecht intern director.
The quartet of performers in the major roles was outstanding
and Joranlien’s Lamont was a scene stealer with her high-pitched, New York-accented voice and ditsy diva portrayal. You couldn’t wait to see – and hear -- her on stage. She had all the right moves, right looks and, best of all, that perfect grating voice!
Cosmo (Matthew Leskinen), right, and Don (David Wagenknecht), left, enthusiastically explain their plans for a musical to director R.F. Simpson (Spencer Anderson).
Wagenknecht and Leskinen are both tall, lean and long-legged, looking – and sounding -- good in the song and dance numbers,
especially the “Good Morning” number with Blatt-Prevatt’s Selden. The trio nailed the number, right down to the overturned couch ending, and earned a huge ovation from the appreciative audience.
That was followed by the impressive “Singin’ in the Rain”
number, which featured Wagenknecht’s Lockwood singing and dancing in an actual downpour on stage. Though his voice flattened a bit at times (it can’t be easy singing while getting totally drenched), it was a crowd-pleasing scene with the stage full of kids in yellow raincoats with umbrellas doing justice to the well-known tune that ended Act I on a high note.
Leskinen showed his wonderful physicality with rubber-limbed
flexibility in the “Make ‘Em Laugh” number, while Blatt-Prevatt displayed her considerable vocal skills in her tunes.
Dora Bailey (Amanda Franz) gives her latest radio gossip report.
I also enjoyed Amanda Franz as Dora Bailey, the radio host
for Hollywood gossip, with her gushy pronouncements, as well as Spencer Anderson as R.F. Simpson, the slick Monumental Studios producer, and Jimmy Dawson as director Roscoe Dexter.
Also impressive were the scenes projected, on a movie screen, of Lockwood and Lamont’s hilarious early attempts at a talking picture.
Those scenes were staged at the Sisters of Notre Dame convent in Elm Grove, giving the period film an appropriate appearance and making the scenes something special.
Also special was the care given to some of musical theater’s
best-known tunes, such as “You Stepped Out of a Dream” and “You Were Meant for Me,” and the energy in dance numbers like “All I Do is Dream of You” and the grace in songs like “Beautiful Girl.”
The show was presented four times, Feb. 14-16, at the South
Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. For more information on Christian Youth Theatre, visit www.cytchicago.org.