Singin' in the Rain - 9th March 2013

2012 was the year that celebrated many things, including the 60th anniversary since the classic movie, Singin' in the Rain, was released. One part of the celebration was presenting the movie in a new form film/concert presentation, Symphonic Cinema.  It was introduced in 2007. It is where the film, with its original vocals and dialogue is shown in sync with an orchestra playing the original score.

Singin' in the Rain had been remastered and released on Blu-Ray in 2012 as part of the 60th anniversary with new bonus features available for the viewers. It was this version that was used for the concert, with the score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. However, in 1969, the studio bosses at MGM made the decision to destroy the original scores of their musical catalogue, including Singin' in the Rain. It ended up in a landfill that became a freeway.

John Wilson stepped up to the task of reconstructing the original score by listening to the soundtrack over and over , with some days only producing a few more notes of the score. What he produced, and what was performed, is the closest thing to what the original score written all those years ago.

To introduce the movie and the orchestra, was the wife of the late Gene Kelly, Patricia Ward Kelly. While she was not married to him at the time the movie was shot and released, she spoke with so much passion about Gene, the movie and all the myths that come with it. She reminded us of the huge age difference between Gene (38yrs old) and Debbie Reynolds (19yrs old) at the time of shooting, of how Gene had a 104 temperature the day he shot the famous sequence for the song Singin' in the Rain and how Debbie's vocals for two songs were dubbed by Betty Noyes and how Jean Hagen did not actually speak like her character!

The film itself, was as always, amazing to watch, fantastically funny and with stunning musical sequences. The music felt like it was part of the film, that I had to keep checking the orchestra was actually playing. Patricia noted in the programme how Gene said that nobody thought the film would be a lasting picture, but it evident last night, within the packed auditorium of the Royal Albert Hall, that was not the case and in my opinion it will never be the case, due to the number of children being introduced to movie last night. If you have not seen it, then you must see it!

And if you have the chance to experience Symphonic Cinema, do so!