Singing in the Rain

 

 

 When I was a graduate student, I spent a month in Perth, Australia.

 I experienced stage acting in Japan, so I was interested in theater performance in foreign counties.

 I found a stage performance there. The title was Singing in the Rain. I had watched the classic movie. I expected new renditions and new directions on the performance.

 The play itself was quite faithful to the movie, but I was surprised because most of the audience were old people.

 Singing in the Rain is a musical play. When an actor sings, the whole audience sings with him. I have never seen such audience in Japan. It was not a simple performance. It was like a meeting to sing together!

 Singing in the Rain was first shown in 1952. I was in Perth in the 1990s.

 The audience had seen Singing in the Rain when they were young. Most of this generation who speak English could sing the songs in Singing in the Rain.

 I couldn’t find a new rendition or new direction of the play. But I experienced a new rendition and direction of theater. The audience didn’t come to the theater just to watch the play. They came to the theater to sing. They were also performers. The musical style also gave the audience a benefit. The audience could rest while actors performed their dialogues.

 Dear friends, theater people in Japan, we can do the same thing. We can create a play. The time may be 40 or 50 years ago. It may be a nice story. But the actors can start to sing the old hit songs every 10 minutes. Then the audience will sing the songs with them. That might be a success.

 Oh! The producer will need to negotiate the song rights holders. It might be hard work.

 I want to participate in the performance, of course, not as a producer.

Proofreading by ProofreadingServices.com

Picture by Shitara