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| Allan DeWitt, Abigail Cavanaugh, and Vaughn Sherman photo by Julia Bashaw |
In 1952 a movie musical was released that became a beloved and classic motion picture. Now, 67 years later, Hale Centre Theatre is presenting the stage adaptation of that film, Singin' in the Rain, which opens next week on Valentine’s Day, and is directed by Cambrian James.
“It’s a sweet little valentine of the movies,” James stated. “If you love the movies you will love this show because it is about the birth of sound talking pictures. It’s this nice little homage to that, and it’s very true to the movie. It’s a beautiful marriage of everything.”
The plot centers on two friends, Don Lockwood and Cosmo Brown, and Kathy Seldon, the girl that Don falls for, who band together to find a way to help the movie studio they work for make the transition from silent movies to "talkies." For Hale's production, the role of Don Lockwood is being played by 20-year-old Vaughn Sherman, Kathy Seldon is being performed by 21-year-old Abigail (Abbi) Cavanaugh, and 21-year-old Allan DeWitt plays Cosmo Brown. They all said they are thrilled to be in this production which is being directed and choreographed by Cambrian James.
“This show is so iconic,” Sherman stated. “Everyone knows it! It is such a happy, fun, entertaining show to see, which I think is something that is super good for this time right now.”
Unless you have been living under a rock, you've already seen or at least have heard of the movie Singin' in the Rain. Sherman was right, it is an iconic movie musical, from the characters to the songs to the dance scenes, that feature a range of styles from tap to ballet. These three actors have had to really stretch their limits and see what they were capable of.
“I don't feel like there are things that we can't do,” started DeWitt, when asked about the challenges this show demands of a performer. “It’s definitely challenging, I love tap but I know I'm not amazing at it. So I like to improve and I like to continue to strive to be better each time. We have to put all of our abilities to make this work. But for us as a cast, we work together really well.”
“There's so much help from everyone,” added Sherman. “Either it's Cambrian who is teaching us, or Abbi who has the sounds down so you can hear it perfectly, or it is Ashley who is our dance captain. They all help so much. It has been super challenging for me, I am not as skilled of a dancer like Abbi so to push myself in that way has been great.”
Cavanaugh has been dancing since she was three years old. “I love tap, I’ve been tapping for 18 years.” she smiled. And what a perfect show for her to be in which has numerous tap numbers for her to perform.
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| Cambrian James |
“I learned that I needed to prepare more,” he admitted. “It’s a huge show. There are a lot of dance scenes and I wanted to pay tribute to the movie so we kept a lot of the iconic dance moves (from the film). But it is not copying because what worked for the original three characters, Don Lockwood, Kathy Selden, Cosmo Brown don’t work for these three actors. And so I want to make them look as good as possible so we adjust things to make them look good.”
On a more comical note, the boys have been so dedicated that they have discovered they just can’t stop moving their feet.
“I find myself taping all the time.” Sherman laughed.
And DeWitt added, “I live in a two story house and my sister lives below me and sometimes I am tapping in the kitchen and she comes up and says 'stop stomping on the floor I am trying to sleep!' ”
They’ve all experienced immense growth during the process of the production. Not only do they have to tackle those complicated tap dances, but they have also had to adjust their entire acting style for this production. Hale Theater is a theater-in-the-round, which means the audience surrounds the entire stage and there is no place to hide when you're on stage in a scene.
“We walked in the first day and Cambrian says, 'okay. so there's no upstage or downstage'. ” Abbi explained. “So all the stage directions are different. But I kind of like it, it’s fun.”
“What I like about theatre-in-the-round,” Dewitt started, “is it allows you to be more natural. Especially if you have a hard time with blocking or believing that the audience is not there. I feel like I’ve always felt enveloped in the character very quickly because there is not a moment where you can stop being the character. If you do stop there's someone in the audience who may notice it.”
“Sets are a little sparse compared to the movie since it is theatre-in-the-round,” explained James. “But we have decorated the theatre itself so it will look like Hollywood in the 1920s. You will walk into the theater and feel like you are immersed. We try to get the audience totally involved as soon as you walk through the door.”
Speaking of being sent back to the 1920s, Sherman, Cavanaugh, and DeWitt are having to portray people living in an era of almost 100 years ago. Each of them has found a unique way to connect to their characters.
“I've been trying to connect to what I experience now and what women were experiencing in that time,” Cavanaugh explained. “It was a man's world, especially in this show every person with authority is a man. And they have a lot of say and the women don't. They are expected to just follow along with whatever the men want. But Kathy is pretty unique, she speaks her mind, she makes choices for herself, she gives ideas without fear. And so I think that is something that’s really relevant to today as well. So that is how I’ve been trying to connect.”
Sherman has been looking through the eyes of his character Don to connect to him and how he sees Kathy’s perspective. “I think that is something empowering about Kathy is that Don is attracted to her out of every other girl that assumingly falls in love with him. The one girl that’s defiant and speaks her own mind and doesn't go with the flow.”
DeWitt feels right at home with Cosmo. “It feels like these are people you can still interact with today,” he said. “I feel like I've grown a big connection with Cosmo just because I feel like he is someone that I could relate with. You know all of his little quirks and antics that he does throughout the show, seems like something I would do, just try to keep things light-hearted or not as serious. That is something that all of us can find.”
“Opening night is Valentine's Day and it is my favorite holiday so I am so excited about that!” Abbi added with a laugh. “But this show has a feel of the escapism period of theatre. Where people went to the theatre to escape what was going on in the world. I love that idea to leave your worries at the door and step into a different world. So I hope people do that and walk out smiling.”
“Overall I want to do justice,” stated Sherman. “Try to emulate what people think of when they think of Singin' in the Rain, make people happy. This is such a fun-loving show, the love of relationships, finding love and being happy. All that stuff you don't see in the day to day right now, I want it to be an escape.”
“I want to make them laugh” DeWitt joked. “But really, I hope to bring some warmth and let them forget about their day for a moment. Singin' in the Rain is always heartwarming, you just feel so nice watching it and I would love to give that to the audience. It is so simple, it is not a super complicated story. I have always felt that when I left watching these kinds of shows where it’s super simple, life just seems simple. A lot of things seem so much easier to conquer and that would be cool if audiences could leave with that.”
“We are not solving any world problems with this musical,” James explained truthfully. “It's just for entertainment. I just want audiences to forget their troubles, come in, enjoy, and go out singing a tune. People have gotten so cold and so anti-people, so I just want them to go out and say good morning to somebody, tapping their toes and then go on with their lives.”
CLICK HERE for more information on Hale Centre Theatre’s production of Singin' in the Rain, which runs February 14th-March 30th.
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