©Seattle Post-Intelligencer Feb. 19, 2005 Splashy 'Singin' in the Rain' is fun and sweetness By Joe Adcock
For the next couple of weeks, the 5th Avenue Musical Theatre is the biggest, fanciest candy box on the West Coast. It is chock-full of eye candy and ear candy -- with no calories and totally devoid of any nutritional value. The current 5th Avenue production is "Singin' in the Rain." It is pretty silly and it is silly in a pretty way. The costumes and lighting dazzle. The scenery gives charming backup. The songs and the choreography are perky or romantic or both. The performers are agile and funny and melodious. Melodious with one exception. Lisa Estridge contributes unique vocal clowning. She sings and speaks like a crow with a Jersey City accent. (Yes, that Lisa Estridge -- the one best known for singing and speaking beautifully in Seattle productions.) Michael Arnold, as the romantic lead's funny friend, specializes in fearless physical comedy. He runs over things and into things, he falls down and bounces up. His routines recall the virtuosity of vaudeville and silent-movie comics. Which is as it should be: "Singin' in the Rain" is set in 1928. The scene is Hollywood during its transition from silent pictures to talkies. A leading man, Don, has an OK voice. The actress who has been playing his sweetheart, Lina, has a not-OK voice. Who should Don encounter one evening but Kathy, who has a super-OK voice. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. Curtain. But first there are a lot of gorgeous production numbers, ludicrous movie snippets and well-aged comedy routines. Estridge plays Lina. It's a ridiculous one-joke part , but she gets a lot of laughs. Michael Gruber, as Don, is an excellent song-and-dance man. It is he who does the title number, singin' and dancin' in the rain like a regular Gene Kelly (who starred in the 1952 movie upon which this 1983 stage musical was based). Kristina Saffran Ashford sings beautifully and combines helplessness, pique and pluck as Kathy. Director/choreographer Jamie Rocco gives variety to this 2 1/2-hour binge of visual and aural glucose. His show combines features of cotton candy, marzipan, nougat and tamarind taffy. main Singin' in the Rain in Seattle page

©Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Feb. 19, 2005

Splashy 'Singin' in the Rain' is fun and sweetness
By Joe Adcock

For the next couple of weeks, the 5th Avenue Musical Theatre is the biggest, fanciest candy box on the West Coast. It is chock-full of eye candy and ear candy -- with no calories and totally devoid of any nutritional value.

The current 5th Avenue production is "Singin' in the Rain." It is pretty silly and it is silly in a pretty way. The costumes and lighting dazzle. The scenery gives charming backup. The songs and the choreography are perky or romantic or both. The performers are agile and funny and melodious.

Melodious with one exception. Lisa Estridge contributes unique vocal clowning. She sings and speaks like a crow with a Jersey City accent. (Yes, that Lisa Estridge -- the one best known for singing and speaking beautifully in Seattle productions.)

Michael Arnold, as the romantic lead's funny friend, specializes in fearless physical comedy. He runs over things and into things, he falls down and bounces up. His routines recall the virtuosity of vaudeville and silent-movie comics. Which is as it should be: "Singin' in the Rain" is set in 1928.

The scene is Hollywood during its transition from silent pictures to talkies. A leading man, Don, has an OK voice. The actress who has been playing his sweetheart, Lina, has a not-OK voice. Who should Don encounter one evening but Kathy, who has a super-OK voice. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. Curtain.

But first there are a lot of gorgeous production numbers, ludicrous movie snippets and well-aged comedy routines.

Estridge plays Lina. It's a ridiculous one-joke part , but she gets a lot of laughs. Michael Gruber, as Don, is an excellent song-and-dance man. It is he who does the title number, singin' and dancin' in the rain like a regular Gene Kelly (who starred in the 1952 movie upon which this 1983 stage musical was based).

Kristina Saffran Ashford sings beautifully and combines helplessness, pique and pluck as Kathy.

Director/choreographer Jamie Rocco gives variety to this 2 1/2-hour binge of visual and aural glucose. His show combines features of cotton candy, marzipan, nougat and tamarind taffy.

main Singin' in the Rain in Seattle page