Singin' in the Rain to make a splash on the Hong Kong stage
The much-loved Hollywood musical has been reimagined as a stage show - and the global tour arrives in Hong Kong later this month
On a hot summer day, a group of journalists are waiting politely for it to rain indoors.
Standing on a stage set designed to look like a movie backlot, they look expectantly up at the lighting rig. Someone gives the cue, and, suddenly, water - piped in from two storage tanks backstage - gushes down from 16 nozzles overhead. The sight is surreal and splendid. One can hardly resist the urge to stick out a hand to feel the "rain". It is warm to the touch - 23 degrees Celsius, to be precise.
"It's so that it'll be a comfortable temperature for the actors," explains Johann Kupferburger, company director of the Singin' in the Rain touring production that will make its way to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The actors will be doused in 12,000 litres of water for a few minutes nightly during the musical's run, which begins on September 25.
Based on the 1952 Hollywood film of the same name, Singin' in the Rain was revived as a musical in Britain in 2011, under the direction of Jonathan Church.
Besides the well-loved songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed - such as Good Mornin', Make 'Em Laugh, You Were Meant for Me, and the title number - it also has new choreography by Andrew Wright that stays close to the spirit of the original. Performed by a cast of 27 who hail mainly from South Africa, this touring production began in New Zealand earlier this year, and has played to audiences in Singapore and the Philippines.