Blame our current tension levels, but indications are that folks might be desperately seeking what advertising copy used to call “the feel-good musical of the year!”
They haven’t found it this summer in the Guthrie Theater’s unquestionably excellent “Cabaret,” which invites you to examine the historical parallels between Nazi Germany and modern America. So it would appear that many have turned to Bloomington’s Artistry Theater to find some respite from all the unsettling disorder.
The company’s new production of “Singin’ in the Rain” has attracted such an audience that Sunday afternoon’s performance was sold out and the show’s run extended for a week before it even opened. Clearly, there’s a local theatrical thirst for something light and bubbly, unapologetically retro and with plenty to laugh about.
The cast of Artistry Theater’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” running through Aug. 31, 2025 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. (Courtesy of Alyssa Kristine Photography)
And Artistry has succeeded in providing that. Sure, it’s tough trying to fill the ample dancing shoes of Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and the cast of the 1952 film that’s been voted the greatest of movie musicals by multiple panels of experts. But live theater has advantages cinema can’t touch – especially cinema in your living room.
Don Lockwood (Danny McHugh) performs the title song in Artistry Theater’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain.” (Courtesy of Alyssa Kristine Photography)
For example, re-shoots and editing can wedge some distance between viewers and the humanity of dance, but this show will remind you how much work and athleticism goes into it. Director Kelli Foster Warder and her co-choreographer, Danny McHugh, ask a lot of this cast of 16, and they come through with some thrilling footwork.
And, like Gene Kelly before him, McHugh pulls impressive double duty by portraying the central character, too. (O.K., Kelly did him one better by also co-directing the film.) It’s a winning performance, McHugh’s lovely tenor voice and smooth delivery of the dances complemented by the looser but infectiously enthusiastic approach of Armando Harlow Ronconi and the grace of Brittany Mendoza-Pena.
They’re the trio at the center of a story about Hollywood’s transition from the silent era to the hotbed of slick and sparkly dance-filled musicals that offered enjoyable escape to Depression-era audiences. McHugh is Don Lockwood, who seems a good candidate for surviving the change, thanks to his Vaudeville song-and-dance experience, as would his musician buddy, Cosmo Brown (Ronconi). And it’s a medium ideal for the voice and dancing chops of Lockwood’s love interest, Kathy Selden (Mendoza-Pena).
Each performer impresses in their own way as we observe a humorous take on an industry’s transition. While the comic timing could be crisper and the pace swifter in the dialogue-driven scenes, the dance numbers eclipse any such quibbles.
Don Lockwood (Danny McHugh) and Cosmo Brown (Armando Harlow Ronconi) recount their days as a vaudeville team in Artistry Theater’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” running through Aug. 31, 2025 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. (Courtesy of Alyssa Kristine Photography)
Warder and McHugh incorporate elements of the original choreography from the film, but put their own stamp upon much of it. And you may get a fresh appreciation for what this kind of dancing requires when the knockout tap trio of “Good Morning” gives way to McHugh ably stepping into Kelly’s signature scene, the urban splash fest that is the title tune.
Members of the cast of Artistry Theater’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain,” running through Aug. 31, 2025 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. (Courtesy of Alyssa Kristine Photography)
For those who take comfort in the familiar, rest assured that Serena Brook basically offers a spot-on imitation of Jean Hagen as the shrill-voiced star of silent cinema, Lina Lamont, the diva who might drag the studio down with her. But it’s a solid performance in a show full of them, one that ably fulfills its mission of making audiences feel good.
Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.
Artistry Theater’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain’
When: Through Aug. 31
Where: Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington
Tickets: $65-$40, available at artistrymn.org
Capsule: It might be the light summer entertainment you crave.
Related Articles
Fringe review: Fun in theory, ‘Ping Prov’ is imperfect in front of an audience
Fringe review: ‘Insomnia Dogs’ is an ingenious concept without a resolution
Fringe review: ‘Pineapple Kryptonite’ is a tepid monologue on the mundane
Fringe review: ‘Academonic’ draws audiences into the suspense
Fringe review: ‘Duluth: An Improvised Midwest Murder’ is klutzy and funny
Leave a Reply