Drama students at Becker High School will be performing the song and dance number called, Singing in the Rain, Dec. 2-4 at the Performing Arts Center.
Singing in the Rain is a 1952 American musical comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. It offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to "talkies."
The Becker production of the play is directed and choreographed by Joe Rand with Greg Lynch running lights and sound, costumes by Celest Trosvig and set design by Rich Kimmerle.
The three Becker students holding main roles in the play are Justin Kimmerle as Don Lockwood, Bridget Buchholz as Kathy Selden and William Schendel as Cosmo Brown.
In 1927, the former stuntman Don Lockwood (Kimmerle) becomes a successful actor with the company of his best friend Cosmo Brown (William Schendel) forming a romantic pair with the actress (Sarenity Klein) Lina Lamont. In the period of transition from silent movies to talking pictures, Don accidentally meets the aspirant actress Kathy Selden (Buchholz) while escaping from his fans and falls in love for her.
Lina has troubles with the sharp tune of her voice, and Cosmo and Don decide to dub her, using Kathy's voice, to save their movie. When the jealous Lina finds the strategy of the studio, she does not want to share the credits with Kathy and tries to force the studio to use Kathy in the shadow to dub her in other productions. But when Lina decides to speak and sing to the audience, the truth arises.
“Tap dancing is hard,” said Kimmerle. “My dad put a big board in my sister’s bedroom that I can practice on. I’m most concerned about being in sync with all the people who have dancing backgrounds.”
Buchholz has some of that experience as she has been with the local Starz Studio dance ensemble for eight years of her life.
“Dancing is the easiest part for me,” said Buchholz. “It comes natural for me. But the biggest challenge I have is putting dancing and singing together. That’s a struggle.”
Klein, who played Glinda the good witch in last year’s production of the Wizard of Oz, is a secondary player and has been working on getting the voice for her character just right for this year’s musical.
“I’m working on Lina’s voice to be sort of like the voice of Betty Boop,” Klein says. “She needs to have a distinct New York accent and this is totally opposite of the voice for Glinda.”
Rand, who himself is a tap dancer, choreographed all the scenes and is excited how everything is coming together so far.
“It’s definitely a challenge to get 57 people to tap-dance together at the same time,” he said. “It’s been crazy but it will be awesome.”
Rand promises the audience that a surprise or two is in store for those who attend.
“I really think people are gonna see this and come away amazed at the talent, the scenes, the props and the costumes,” Rand said. “I’m a stickler for authenticity and believability and I think we are gonna get there come opening night.”
Auditions for Singing in the Rain were held Sept. 12-13 with call-backs on Sept. 14. Students with dance, acting and singing skills were sought and Rand has been working hard with the actors to get all the dance moves, the lines and the voices in harmony.
Show dates and times are as follows: Fri., Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 4 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available through the Becker Public Schools website or contact the Becker Community Ed. Office at 763-261-4506.
