Erika Heynatz isn't supposed to be the star of this production of Singin' In The Rain, but her ditzy, leggy Lina Lamont almost steals the show. Reproducing the classic 1952 movie almost word-for-word, Singin' In The Rain bursts with colour, vintage costumes and incredible tap dancing numbers that show off the hoofing skills of the whole cast.
Lead Grant Almirall, who stepped in as leading man, Don Lockwood, in the Melbourne season when Adam Garcia and his understudy Rob Mallett were both injured, relishes the show's defining moment when he really does get to sing in the rain (and splash quite a bit of it onto the front couple of rows who have been supplied with ponchos). Gretel Scarlett's hopeful starlet Kathy Selden strikes the right balance between lovestruck and sassily ambitious and Jack Chambers gets to play up sidekick Cosmo Brown's slapstick mugging.
But it's Heynatz who gets to have the most fun with every gnarled vowel and kooky pronunciation as old school silent actress Lamont struggles to come to grips with the advent of the talking pictures. Though the balance isn't quite right between dialogue, music numbers and straight tapping showpieces, the production values that have brought this show to the stage definitely make it a fun piece of nostalgia.
