Singin' up a storm

Glacier crew brings classic movie musical to the stage

It seems the stars were in perfect alignment for the first musical production of Glacier High School's Wolfpack Theatre Company.

The lead actor in "Singin' in the Rain," Dylan Rodwick, not only has extensive acting experience, he also has 10 years of serious tap-dancing under his belt, an uncommon find in a high school senior.

The stage show of the classic 1952 movie features film footage, and the Glacier cast happened to have two actors who also run their own film-production company on its roster.

And "Singin' in the Rain" is a perfect model of the escapist entertainment that is in vogue these days.

"It's just a fun show," director Ivana Fritz said. "It's not a 'come and think about it' show. You just come and have some fun."

"Singin' in the Rain" opens its four-night run tonight at 7 p.m. in the school's black-box theater. Nearly 30 students are involved in the acting and technical crews, with 22 in the accompanying orchestra.

The story, set in the 1920s, follows Don Lockwood, a heartthrob actor of the silent movie era.He and his leading lady, ditzy diva Lina Lamont, are about to bring their newest film, "The Dueling Cavalier," to the silver screen - until sound pictures become all the rage.

Unknown to silent film audiences, Lamont has an unpleasant voice that does not translate well to the new medium. Meanwhile, Lockwood has become taken with aspiring actress Kathy Selden, who is asked to be the voice of Lamont onscreen - and Lamont is not happy.

Fritz said it was a challenge to bring the fabled film down to the scale of an intimate theater, but she thinks they've succeeded.

"We don't have Gene Kelly, but we have some great kids," she said.

Rodwick, a longtime member of the local Feat by Feet tap company, tackles the role of Lockwood. Rachael Stubbert is Lina Lamont, Kristen Smith plays Kathy Selden and Chad Dawson is Lockwood's sidekick, Cosmo.

Dawson also is part of East E Productions, the film company he began last year with Taylor Graham, who is playing studio owner R.F. Simpson in the show. East E created silent film footage for the play.

Graham is acting in his first production and doesn't have to dance or sing, but Dawson is a triple threat, with experience acting and singing plus eight years of tap dancing lessons.

"It's fun to be able to sing and tap and act," Dawson said.

Smith taught herself to tap prior to auditioning for the role, but she said combining the singing - her true strength - with the dancing was not working out.

"I decided to just let the guys tap dance," she said.

One thing Smith does do is kissing, and a lot of it, with Rodwick. The two lead characters, quite in love despite the protests of Lamont, are prone to public displays of affection.

"This is the first stage kissing I've ever done," said Smith, a musical theater veteran with Flathead's "Sound of Music" and Alpine Theatre Project's "West Side Story" to her credit. "It was like going over the first hurdle. After the first time, all the others were easier, and now I don't even think about it."

Wolfpack Theatre is using the adaptation of "Singin' in the Rain" created by the original screenplay writers, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Fritz said they're trying to faithfully stick to the spirit of the production in every way possible.

"The kids have worked so hard to re-create something set so far back, what's ancient times to them," Fritz said.

The young men in the cast, for example, are having to learn to sit up straight, as men in the '20s did.

"Teenage boys today don't tend to do that," Fritz said.

A more challenging detail was to stay true to the production's signature number.

A rain system was designed and built by Flathead High graduate and Wolfpack Theatre assistant Ryan Motley, and a crew of local men volunteered their time and expertise to build and troubleshoot the system. The finished product features bars running across the underside of the catwalk and a false floor that rolls away once the number is finished so the rest of the show is finished on a dry surface.

Fritz warned that audience members in the front row will not be drenched, but could get slightly wet.

"We're not singing in the mist, we're singing in the rain," Fritz said.

"Singin' in the Rain" shows are tonight and Friday and March 23-24 at 7 p.m. at Glacier High School.Tickets are $10 for adults or $7 for children, students and senior citizens and are available at Herberger's and the Glacier High School Main Office.

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com