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You are here: Home / Arts / Review: Thornden School – Singing in the Rain

Review: Thornden School – Singing in the Rain

July 21, 2016 By chippy minton 6 Comments

It was back to the 1920s at Thornden School last week.

I don’t mean that slates and the 3 R’s were reintroduced, or that poor performance in class was admonished with a cane across the hand.

No, I mean that this was the decade in which the school’s summer performance of “Singing in the Rain” is set.

Singing in the Rain. Thornden School image, summer 2016.

The underlying story tells how the silent movie stars cope with the change from silent movies to “talkies”. This storyline gives great comedy potential such as an intentionally ham-acted silent movie sequence, problems with the sound recording during a scene shoot, and a badly-dubbed first attempt at a talking film.

Singing in the Rain
As we expect from Thornden School productions, the theme of the play crept out into the foyer. We were greeted with Charlie Chaplin styled programme and raffle sellers, and to a ceiling decorated with colourful balloons.

From the start, the main characters held the stage as their own, and interacted well with each other – are you sure these actors are only schoolchildren? Their stage presence suggested a much greater age and acting experience.

Singing in the Rain. Thornden School image, summer 2016.

I hope it’s not giving too much of the plot away if I say that one of the running themes is that Lina Lamont doesn’t have a particular good accent and can’t sing at all (“good voice for silent movies” is how she might have been described). The actress gave what was possibly the best musical performance in demonstrating this – singing in tune is easy; singing off-key is difficult.

Singing in the Rain. Thornden School image, summer 2016.

A production for the whole school to be proud of

The production provided some great song and dance routines – whether by the main characters, or the ensemble. In fact, there were two numbers I recognised, but hadn’t realised they came from this musical.

Having several ensemble numbers meant that a large cast could take part – a different group for each number. This is how a school production should be – a production for the whole school to take part in and be proud of. And however complicated the choreography was, the standard of the singing never diminished; every word of the song could be clearly heard.

Singing in the Rain. Thornden School image, summer 2016.

Musical accompaniment was provided by more Thornden School pupils – and this time we were able to see the orchestra, positioned on a specially-built platform above the stage. A wonderful innovation – can we see more of this, please?

Singing in the Rain. Thornden School image, summer 2016.

Yes – the rain was real

And we had real rain. Water sprayed down from above the stage during the well-known number. I’ll let you into a little secret here. Some years ago I had a backstage tour of a theatre where Singing in the Rain was being produced. Their rain machine was little more than a glorified shower. Thornden’s technical team topped this – rain really did fall from the unseen heavens.

Singing in the Rain. Thornden School image, summer 2016.

As always with Thornden School productions, this was high quality entertainment, expertly delivered. A very enjoyable and entertaining evening out.

And no description of Singing in the Rain can be complete without this excerpt – guaranteed to brighten up your day.

Image credit: All photos via Joe North, Thornden Hall.

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Tags: arts and crafts, Chandler’s Ford community, community, education, entertainment, event, local interest, review, social, theatre, Thornden Hall, Thornden School, Winchester Road

About chippy minton

I've lived in Chandler's Ford and Eastleigh for most of my working life, having been brought up in the south Midlands, and schooled in the Home Counties.

I work in IT, and my hobbies include bell ringing, walking, cycling and running.

I enjoy live theatre and music, and try to watch many of the shows that are performed in the Eastleigh area.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Eric Lasker says

    July 21, 2016 at 8:55 am

    Superlative!! The ham acting from time to time certainly had me chortling to the annoyance of the people in the row in front of us who gave the stare “They are doing their best”.

    Reply
    • Ruby says

      July 21, 2016 at 7:58 pm

      I think the ham acting was intentional – a stage version of hyperbole.

      Reply
  2. Janet Williams says

    July 21, 2016 at 9:56 am

    For those who would like a glimpse of the brilliant show, on Thornden Hall’s Facebook page, there is a short video clip showing some highlights.

    Unfortunately at present I’m unable to use their images for this review without permission. I don’t think you could embed video from Facebook to this platform either (I’m not an expert on Facebook).

    (Sourcing Creative Commons license images /authorised images for reviews on Chandler’s Ford Today has always been the most time-consuming part. We are lucky sometimes, but not always.)

    In addition to the hard work of students, choreography, orchestra, sound and lighting, and the costume and stage design are also worth praising.

    Reply
  3. Allison Symes says

    July 21, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    Wonderful review. Wished I’d been there! Though for me Singing in the Rain brings back wonderful memories of Morecambe and Wise…

    Reply
    • Janet Williams says

      July 22, 2016 at 1:24 am

      Reply
  4. Janet Williams says

    August 16, 2016 at 11:19 am

    Thornden Shool sent me some photos in the summer and I’ve added them to this review.

    What a remarkable performance!

    Reply

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