The Music Theatre West production of the beloved musical ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ will debut on Sept. 16 at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan.
LOGAN – The cast of the upcoming Music Theatre West production of the musical Singin’ in the Rain have big shoes to fill.
Dancin’ shoes, in fact.
The 1983 stage adaptation is, of course, based on the 1952 classic musical from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, 19-year-old Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen.
When the show opens on Friday, Sept. 16 at the Ellen Eccles Theatre, local audiences will be expecting to see dancing comparable to Kelly’s iconic song-and-dance routine to “Singin’ in the Rain” and the film’s energetic production number of “Good Morning.”
Big shoes, indeed.
Singin’ in the Rain is set in Hollywood in the waning days of silent screen movies. The show focuses on romantic lead Don Lockwood, his sidekick Cosmo Brown, aspiring actress Kathy Selden and Lockwood’s leading lady Lina Lamont, whose less-than-dulcet vocal tones make her an unlikely candidate for stardom in talking pictures.
Logan McKenna will play Don Lockwood. He was last seen as the sadistic dentist Orin in the MTW production of Little Shop Horrors in 2021 and as a dim-bulb confidence man in Annie in 2020.
Celeste Baillio will play Lina Lamont, the role that earned Jean Hagen an Oscar as best supporting actress in 1952. Ms Baillio has previously demonstrated that she has the comic chops to play Lina – with her nails-on-a-chalkboard voice and thick Brooklyn accent – in numerous local productions.
Ms. Baillio previously delivered an over-the-top performance as the drunken Miss Hannigan in the MTW production of Annie and in other comedic roles in Four Season productions of Freaky Friday, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Addams Family and Thoroughly Modern Millie.
The ingénue Kathy Seldon will be portayed by Meredith Ashcraft, who previously appears as a nun in the MTW production of The Sound of Music.
Cameron Gleed will provide comedy relief as Don’s buddy, Cosmo Brown.
Local audience will find the rest of the cast filled with familiar names and faces.
The singing and dancing ensembles will include Melinda Richards, Amber Freestone, Nicole Martineau, Sara Marshall, Kathy Bateman and Julia Heslop.
Filling other roles around the “studio” are Danilia Trisallini, Megan Pearson, Ginny Teuscher, Kate Neeley, Rybekah Tyler, Brindy Ashcraft and Ashley Phelps.
Rounding out the cast are Braden Ashcraft, Kyle Cottom, Mason Blanchard, Trenton Bateman, Gideon Benge, Joe Harris, Ben Snow, Jay Richards, Nathan Larsen, Joshua Rogers and Porter Harris.
Evening performances of Singin’ in the Rain will be staged at 7:30 p.m. on the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan on Friday, Sept. 16 and Saturday, Sept. 17; on Monday, Sept. 19; on Thursday, Sept. 22, on Friday, Sept. 23; and Saturday, Sept. 24.
A matinee performance of the musical is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24 at 1:30 p.m.
Ticket for Singin’ in the Rain can be purchased online from the CacheARTS website at www.cachearts.org or from the Eccles Theatre Box Office at 43 S. Main St. in Logan.