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Home , Adolph Green, Bob Avian, Gareth Valentine, Michael Kidd, Samantha Spiro, Stephen Mear

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SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN ­ 14 15 performances march 12-26, 2015 Direction by reprising November 27, 2015 - January 15, 2016 ROBERT CARSEN 15 A new Châtelet production co-produced by Opéra de Monte-Carlo

A musical in two acts Book by and Adolph Green Based on the 1952 film byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Music by Nacio Herb Brown and Original choreography by and Distribution

Book Betty Comden and Adolph Green Music Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed Original Film Choreography Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

Musical Direction Gareth Valentine Direction Robert Carsen Costumes Anthony Powell Choreography Sets SUmmary and distribution Tim Hatley Dramaturgy Ian Burton Lights Robert Carsen and Giuseppe di Iorio Contents Don Lockwood Musicals at the Châtelet by Jean-Luc Choplin p.3 Dan Burton Synopsis and musical numbers p.4 Cosmo Brown Behind the scenes of Singin’ in the Rain p.5 Daniel Crossley Conversation with Gareth Valentine p.7 Kathy Selden Conversation with Robert Carsen p.8 Clare Halse Note of intention by Anthony Powell p.10 Lina Lamont Conversation with Stephen Mear p.11 Emma Kate Nelson Conversation with Tim Hatley p.12 R.F. Simpson Note of intention by Dan Burton p.13 Robert Dauney Note of intention by Daniel Crossley p.14 Dora/Voice Coach Note of intention by Clare Halse p.15 Jennie Dale Biographies p.16 Roscoe Dexter Practical information p.20 Matthew Gonder Rod/Tenor Matthew McKenna reprising November 27, 2015 through January 15, 2016 Zelda Karen Aspinall Ensemble Gaby Antrobus, Imogen Brooke, Jessica Buckby, Hanna Cauchi, Matthew Che- ney, Matthew Whennell-Clark, Molly- May Gardiner, Joshua Lay, Philip Mar- riott, Ross McLaren, Camille Mesnard, Alice Mogg, Jo Morris, Gary Murphy, Annabel O’Rourke, Pablo Pena, Romain Rachline, Pippa Raine, Emma Scherer, Édouard Thiébaut, Stuart Winter

Orchestra Orchestre de Chambre de Paris

Based on the film produced by Metro-Gold- DISCUSSING THE MUSICAL with ALAIN PERROUX wyn-Mayer, with special agreement of War- in the Grand Foyer, free entry with limited seating ner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Inc. Published by Thursday, March 5th at 1:00pm EMI Music, produced with the agreement of Maurice Rosenfield, Lois F. Rosenfield and Cindy Pritzker, Inc.

2 graphers and actors from Broadway and the West End, renewing and reinventing this hybrid, ever-changing art form as we go along.

Nearly ten years strong, I am happy to report that the Parisian public has developed a genuine curiosity and ap- petite for musicals. The Châtelet has created an audience for them in Paris, and produced new modern classics that are travelling worldwide: our has gone to Italy, England and Japan and our will soon open in Houston and San Francisco. Our latest production, An American in Paris, opens this spring on Broadway for a commer- Musicals at the châtelet cial run after its historic world premiere in Paris. We are now looking forward to JCEAN-LU CHOPLIN exploring this new financial and artistic model, getting opera houses and private producers on board to ‘continue the be- guine’ together! T he Théâtre du Châtelet, located The French public had many miscon- along the Seine in the heart of the city, ceptions about . They between Notre-Dame and the Louvre, is were only familiar with the early form of the musical theatre of Paris. It’s an en- the genre, operettas. Operettas were po- tertainment theatre celebrating music pular from the mid-19th century until the and dance, and a production house hel- late 1960s, when the transformations ping artists create new works. I like to of society and the avant-garde art that think of the Châtelet as a sophisticated emerged meant that they lost their ap- and popular place – sophisticated be- peal. And whereas musicals in America cause whatever we do, whichever genre were born from variety and vaudeville, we explore, we always strive for excel- here the genre didn’t renew itself. For lence; and popular because we welcome the French public, musicals were like a large and diverse audience. operettas: dated, decadent and dull.

As a city-subsidized theatre, it is our It was high time to change this pers- responsibility to offer Parisians a wide pective and bring American musicals to range of productions and to bring them Paris. But introducing Parisians to the the best that the world has to offer. The best of Broadway didn’t simply mean five continents are represented in our importing the shows directly into the programming, from Mexico to India and Châtelet. My mission here has been all from kabuki to zarzuela. And one of the about breaking boundaries: introducing Châtelet’s specialties, which started as Ring Cycle fanatics to Luis Mariano and early as 1929 with the European pre- young children to contemporary com- miere of and which we’re posers, asking visual artists to direct reviving today, is the Golden Age of baroque operas, or taking Mozart to American musicals. South Africa. So my idea was to break the boundaries of the art form, and treat When I became head of the theatre in musicals just like opera. 2006, I realized that despite an early taste for them in the 1920s and 1930s, To me musicals deserve the same res- Paris didn’t know any of the major pect as opera: their extraordinary scores American musicals. The Sound of Music, should be celebrated with big sym- My Fair Lady, , Carousel, The phonic orchestras and operatic voices. King and I, ‘et cetera, et cetera, et ce- Because of its historical ties with the tera’ – none of these classic shows had world of opera, the Châtelet is in an been presented here, and Parisians who ideal position to do just this: we invite claim to be at the forefront of the artis- the best opera singers such as Rodney tic scene didn’t even know who Stephen Gilfry, Susan Graham, conductors or di- Sondheim was. rectors such as Robert Carsen to work alongside the finest dancers, choreo-

3 Musical Numbers

ACT I

Overture (Orchestra) Fit as a Fiddle (Don & Cosmo) The Royal Rascal (Orchestra) You Stepped Out of a Dream (Don & ) All I Do is Dream of You (Kathy & Girls of the Coconut Grove) You Stepped Out of a Dream (Reprise) (Don) Make ‘Em Laugh (Cosmo) synopsis and musical numbers Beautiful Girls (Kathy & Ensemble) You Are My Lucky Star (Kathy) You Were Meant For Me Don Lockwood is a silent film star with gleefully raise the curtain behind her, re- (Don & Kathy) humble roots as a musician, dancer and vealing the deception. Kathy becomes a Moses Supposes stunt man. Don barely tolerates his va- star, and Lina’s career is finished. (Don & Cosmo) pid leading lady, Lina Lamont, who is Moses Supposes (Reprise) convinced that their screen romance is (Full Company) real. After the first talking picture, The Good Morning Jazz Singer, proves to be a smash hit, (Don, Cosmo & Kathy) the head of the studio, R. F. Simpson, Singin’ in the Rain decides he has no choice but to convert (Don) the new Lockwood and Lamont film,The Dueling Cavalier, into a talkie. The pro- ACT II duction is beset with difficulties, by far the worst being Lina’s comically grating Entr’acte voice. (Orchestra) Would You? After a disastrous test screening, Don’s (Kathy & Don) best friend, Cosmo Brown, comes up with What’s Wrong With Me? the idea to overdub Lina’s voice and they (Lina) convince Simpson to turn The Dueling Broadway Rhythm Cavalier into The Dancing Cavalier, a (Cosmo, Don & Full Company) musical film. Meanwhile, Don Would You? (Reprise) falls in love with an aspiring actress, (Kathy - voicing for Lina & Cosmo) Kathy Selden, who is providing the voice You Are My Lucky Star (Reprise) for Lina. When Lina finds out, she is fu- (Kathy & Don) rious and does everything possible to Singin’ in the Rain (Finale) sabotage the romance. She maliciously (Full Company) demands that Kathy continue to pro- Exit Music vide her voice in all future films, but re- (Orchestra) main uncredited. An irate, but desperate Simpson is forced to agree; Kathy has no choice because she is under contract.

The premiere of The Dancing Cavalier is a tremendous success. When the au- dience clamors for Lina to sing live, Don and Cosmo improvise and get Lina to lip- synch while Kathy sings into a second microphone while hidden behind the curtain. Unbeknownst to Lina, as she starts ‘singing’, Don, Cosmo and Simpson

4 using songs from the extensive catalogue of lyricist Arthur Freed (the same) and composer Nacio Herb Brown (how many people can there be “named” Nacio Herb Brown?). Whatever came out of our creative hoppers, or out of two hopping mad creators, was to be called Singin’ in the Rain. We gulped a gulp that could be heard around the world, and then followed a long silence during which the orchids around us seemed to grow into the man-eating variety. Finally we said, ‘But, Arthur, what about our new contract? It says, with all names spelled out, that Comden and Green are to write the lyrics unless the score is by (1) Irving behind the scenes of Berlin, (2) , (3) Rodgers and Hammerstein’. Arthur said, ‘Kids, I never sINGIN’ in the rain heard of any such clause. Now, about Singin’ in the Rain ----’ […] Betty Comden and Adolph Green […] So we began working on Singin’ in the Rain like rats trapped in a burning barn. And let it be known for the record that All we knew about our assignment when tradition, which placed him at the Freed was very sweet and tolerant with we arrived in Hollywood in late May 1950 bottom of the social structure, with us rats – didn’t chase us with a broom was that we were to write an original the ego-crushing certainty that forty or anything. story and screenplay, as well as the other scriptwriters would obliterate Later that very day we met with Roger lyrics, for a new musical picture. We had any trace of his work before it reached [Edens] around his piano in the Freed rushed out there in answer to an urgent the screen. (Writers were considered office and surveyed the sprawling ‘there’s-not-a-moment-to-lose’ crisis ‘the authors’ unless disastrously proved stacks of Freed-Brown songs in sheet- command from M-G-M, only to find otherwise, and were usually included in music form, ranging all the way from every studio shut down and the whole discussion of all aspects of production.) ‘Should I?’ to ‘Would You?’ The late sun place deserted. […] Actually, all that had Arthur also had a gift for importing, was just hitting the sign outside ‘Smith happened then was that everyone had or taking chances on, people of the and Salisbury, Mortuary’ next door, and taken off for a six-day Decoration Day theater, allowing them to develop into we felt like walking over and lying down. weekend. […] moviemakers with a free-swinging spirit We riffled through the songs as Roger At the time we were pioneers in bicoastal – Vincente Minnelli, Gene Kelly, Stanley played and sang them in his Southern living, continuing to write for the theater Donen, , , colonel’s whiskey baritone, and several in , our home, and coming out , and the two of us. […] possible stories suggested themselves. West periodically, to do a movie, and When everyone returned from their For instance, ‘The Wedding of the then return. By then we had written interminable holiday that June in Painted Doll’ could well have been the several pictures, the latest of which was 1950, we were summoned, unslept and basis for a story about a painted doll the adaptation of our first Broadway nervous, to a meeting in Arthur’s office, who got married. show, On The Town. The film had enjoyed where we were finally to discover why But as Roger kept playing, we hummed financial and critical success, and the we had been rushed out there. Sun- along, we began in spite of ourselves to public happily accepted the concept drenched and relaxed after his rest, and get excited. Many of them were famous of an intimate movie musical in which surrounded by orchids from his vast songs, standards, bristling with vitality almost all the musical numbers were greenhouses, Arthur greeted us warmly, and part of the nation’s collective handled by a small group of principals inquired after families and friends, unconscious – ‘Broadway Melody’, in realistic situations, some of them quoted the grosses of ‘Broadway Rhythm’, ‘You Are My Lucky actually photographed on location in the from Variety, and read us letters from Star’, ‘Fit as a Fiddle’, ‘You Were Meant streets of New York. It was also the first Giancarlo Menotti and , and For Me’, and the title song itself, an directional assignment for Gene Kelly after some further discussion of the irresistible ode to optimism which no and Stanley Donen. state of the theater in New York, and one can possibly sing without acting out We always worked in what was known phone calls to his brother Hugo at the the line, ‘There’s a smile on my face’. We as the ‘Freed Unit.’ This was presided orchid ranch, and to on knew one thing about the story. There over by producer Arthur Freed. […] The Stage 27, he said, ‘c’mon, kids, let’s have would have to be some scene where Freed Unit was something quite special some lunch.’ Arthur was trying not to tell there would be rain, and the leading in Hollywood, with conditions that us something. Somewhere around four man (? Van Johnson? Fred permitted us to function somewhat the that afternoon, after some prodding from Astaire? Gene Kelly?) would be singing in way we would in doing a show in New us, he let it be known with a proud but it. Many of these songs had been written York. The writer was not treated as part shy chuckle that we had been assigned by Freed and Brown for the earliest of an assembly line in the old Hollywood to write an original story and screenplay musical pictures made, between 1929

5 to the Eureka moment of realizing that maybe it could work if the action never went to New York, but all took place in Hollywood: the premiere, the interview in front of the theater before the stars go in, the shots of the silent movie itself, the backstage scene, the star’s escape from his fans and his meeting the girl on Hollywood Boulevard, instead of Fifth Avenue. It seems pitifully obvious now, bordering on the moronic, but at the time we felt like Champollion deciphering the Rosetta Stone. From here on, the gates were open and the writing of the screenplay gushed in a relatively exuberant flow. We tapped the roots of and 1931, during the painful transition a faint air of credibility, we had better our memories and experiences without from silent to sound, and it occurred to establish our hero as someone who editing ourselves when our ideas us that, rather than try to use them in a had had a song-and-dance vaudeville got wild, satirical, and extravagantly sophisticated, contemporary story, or a background before he entered pictures. nonsensical. To our gratified surprise, gay-nineties extravaganza, they would Such a character felt more to us like not only did Roger seem delighted with bloom at their happiest in something Gene Kelly than Howard Keel. it all, but Arthur, to whom we read each that took place in the very period in Gene was one of our oldest friends from section as we completed it, gave it his which they had been written. With this New York, as was Stanley Donen. […] happy approval. (The final go-ahead decision made we began to feel the After their outstanding success as the had to come from Dore Schary, who had ground beneath our feet at last. We directing team of On the Town, what recently replaced L.B. Mayer as head of both knew the period intimately and we none too secretly hoped for was to the studio). were amateur authorities on silent films reunite the four of us, with Gene again At Arthur’s suggestion, Gene, who was and early talkies, long before Cinema as star. But Gene was now, deservedly, finished shooting An American in Paris, 1 and 2 was a subject taught in every at that happy moment when everyone was given a script to read, and we kindergarten in the country. wanted him for everything, and had he geared ourselves for a friendly refusal. The studio grapevine reached us that expressed the desire to film Kafka’s Instead, he and Stanley Donen, who had Howard Keel had been penciled in for Metamorphosis featuring the ‘Million- also read it, came rushing over to us in the lead, and we made a few dispirited Legged Cockroach Ballet’, the studio the commissary the next day bursting stabs at a yarn about a minor Western would have considered it a smart with enthusiasm and filled with ideas actor in silent who makes it big with commercial move, and gone all the way which they imparted to us over our the advent of sound as a singing with him. It was impossible for us to usual lunch of L.B. Mayer matzo-ball cowboy. But our thoughts kept coming approach him, because he was deeply soup and surrealist song parodies. We back to the dramatic upheavals of involved, head and feet, staring in and started meeting with them instantly that period, when great careers were choreographing An American in Paris, for final changes and rewrites, going wrecked because the public’s image of which was shooting on the lot under over the script shot by shot. In addition a favorite would be instantly destroyed Vincente Minnelli’s direction. We kept to their outstanding skill in integrating by a voice that did not match the fabled seeing him all the time socially, but all the elements of a musical film, our face. We remembered particularly the he let us know, in a friendly way, he old friendship with them, and their downfall of John Gilbert, the reigning was going to pick his next venture very knowledge of our work from our early king of the silent screen in 1928, whose carefully, and would rather not know performing days, made it easy for them career was finished off by one talking what we were up to, so he could judge to use many ideas and visual details picture, in which, with his director’s the finished script impartially. that might have seemed irrelevant or a encouragement, he improvised his own In the meantime we spent an agonizing total mystery to anyone else. love scene, consisting of the phrase month trying to get a grip on ourselves The success of the film and its continued ‘I love you’ repeated many times with and our screenplay. […] My (Betty’s) life over the years has much to do with growing intensity, exactly as he had husband, Steve, had just arrived from our four-way mental radar, Gene and done it the year before in front of the New York and, knowing us rather Stanley’s brilliant execution, and their silent camera. The audience screamed well, was not too surprised to find us sure professionalism while maintaining with laughter. We decided our leading slumped in our familiar Dostoyevskian an air of effortless, carefree spontaneity. character should be just such a star. The attitudes. At some point we grabbed him Also, one of the two directors gave a trick, of course, was to make the stuff of and read him our goulash of openings, great performance. Just as we knew tragedy like this fit into a lighthearted to illustrate the hopelessness of the from the start, there was a scene where satirical comedy that featured fifteen situation. Much to our amazement, there was rain, and the leading man was or twenty Freed-Brown songs along Steve, a reticent chuckler, was roaring singing in it. What we hadn’t written into the way. Our silent star would have to throughout, and asked, offhandedly, the script was ‘Here Gene Kelly does survive his downfall and make good as a why, instead of abandoning the project, perhaps the outstanding solo number of musical star, and to give that story point didn’t we use all the openings? This led his career’.

66 tuperative with her, citing her lack of dance experience. In rehearsal one day, found her under the piano in tears and stepped in to help her come up to scratch, and bolster her confi- dence. The result is there for all to see.

The success of the film also comes from the title song, ‘Singing in the Rain’... Go out into the street right now and grab the arm of the next person you see. Now ask them to sing the song and (unless they’re from Mars), they’ll do it. THAT is a hit!

What is your interpretation of the piece? Did you change the arrangements? Gareth Valentine Our director, Robert Carsen, is steering a ship which has been sailing for some musical direction time. His interpretation is full of new ideas and brilliant imagination but ho- nours the spirit and integrity of the ori- ginal. The arrangements you will hear When did you first discover Singin’ in become recognized as a masterpiece. In are the ones commissioned for the 1986 the Rain? occasional questionnaires in which the Broadway stage version. Curiously, the I’ve known Singin’ in the Rain since I was a public are asked to choose their favorite forces are relatively small. The brass very young boy. It was always on TV and it musical, Singin’ in the Rain comes up as section, for example, has only three eventually found its way into the hearts number one time and again. trumpets and two trombones (no French of the Britons very quickly. The sequence horn!). There are only four woodwind in which Gene Kelly dances through What do you think of the music? players who play multiple instruments, puddles in torrential rain has become The music is simple and infectious, like as required in these shows. Piano, per- iconic. In the UK, that very sequence was all of the best Hollywood and Broadway cussion, drums and an augmented famously lampooned, most memorably scores. I often say that playing these string section complete the forces, so by the comedy duo, Morecambe & Wise. tunes is like eating peanuts - it’s a Broadway pit band with supple- Every Brit knows that sketch. you’ve had one, you have to have more! mentary strings. I believe musicals are at their very best We’re adding a tango to increase the Singin’ in the Rain is part of the Golden when they are musical comedy, and introductory flavor of the party scene Age of the musicals... Is it a special one Singin’ in the Rain is a dazzling example and I’ve rearranged the ensemble wri- for you? of that. ting here and there for a fuller effect. The musical is special inasmuch as the Otherwise, the orchestrations are intact score and crazy story are unassailably The story of Singin’ in the Rain is simple and wonderfully so. And I had to cobble glorious. Now, as then, people need and beautiful, and friendship and love together some piano music for the silent cheering up, and the story was writ- win at the end. This is a very optimistic movie sequences, which was great fun! ten by the best. The book writers, Betty point of view... Comden & Adolph Green, were and re- Shamelessly optimistic - and why not? Interview by Franck Médioni main, theatre royalty. They had colla- The raison d’être of this show was to borated with such giants as Leonard entertain people, and who can fail to be Bernstein, and Jules Styne. impressed by the high-octane level of writing? The material is second to none. The composer on the other hand, Nacio Its path, as with the creation of many hit Herbert Brown, is not very well-known. musicals, was not always easy. Oscar Nacio Brown was a well-established Levant, the Broadway entertainer and composer of popular songs for composer, wittily said that putting on Hollywood, Broadway and television. He a musical was a series of disasters fol- wrote many of the melodies for Arthur lowed by a party! Freed (who wrote the lyrics for Singin’ in the Rain). His talent didn’t earn him a The success of this musical is also due global profile like Cole Porter or George to Gene Kelly... Gershwin, but he was very distinguished Gene Kelly, yes - the master. His style is nonetheless, and even if the score recognizably effortless and charming. of Singin’ in the Rain was all he wrote He said that he didn’t see eye to eye with (which it certainly wasn’t), that is a pret- Debbie Reynolds, who performed along- ty impressive legacy since the film has side him in the movie. He was often vi-

7 and long-standing ties with the Théâtre du Châtelet. Before Jean-Luc started reinstating musicals in Paris, the genre was depreciated, even despised. Thanks to the works that he produced and programmed, particularly Bernstein’s and Sondheim’s, he really gave musicals a place, a new perspective and recognition. His work has made a huge difference. So how could I say no to his Singin’ in the Rain? All the more as our first two collaborations, Candide and My Fair Lady, went superbly well. Finally, both as an audience member and a director, I’m a fan of musicals. I’ve been lucky enough to direct two Andrew Lloyd Weber productions, including Sunset ROBERT CARSEN Boulevard which is possibly his most perfect score. I find that interesting: Direction and Lighting design the two American cinema masterpieces from the 1950s documenting the change from silent cinema to the talkies are Singin’ in the Rain and Sunset Boulevard. What is your first memory of Singin’ in Comden, were asked to build an original The former talks about that period in the the Rain? story using existing Brown and Freed past, the latter in the present, through Singin’ in the Rain was a cult film, and songs. That was an acrobatic exercise the impossible come back of a fallen a staple on television throughout my which they brilliantly executed. These star. childhood in Canada. The image that songs, which were already standards, instantly springs to mind is Gene Kelly add an extra layer to the film. The end Did the difficulty of the task dawn on as Don Lockwood – my admiration for result is an unusual mix between a 1951 you immediately? Kelly, one of the greatest dancers of all scenario and 1920s-30s songs – and Not quite. The moment of realization time, comes from that film. it works! It feels logical, natural and came when I started studying the smooth. continuity of the stage adaptation. In Singin’ in the Rain is possibly the the cinema, everything is filmed: it is ultimate musical from the 1950s Green and Comden were asked to easy to move from one place to another. Hollywood era. Stanley Donen himself write a script using existing material In Singin’ in the Rain by Donen and Kelly, was blown away by the success of the (Brown and Freed’s songs); and you you watch the film and then you see the screening at the Lumière festival in have created a show using the existing result projected onto a screen, following 2010, with an audience of over 4000. material of the film… the principle of a film within a film. The What makes it so special? That’s true. With one difference though: medium remains the same. For the stage I’m not a film historian but I can hazard our 2015 Singin’ in the Rain at the version, we had to shoot several scenes a guess : it’s a joyful, euphoric and clever Théâtre du Châtelet is not the first in advance, with the actors, in order to work, a movie about the movies, and stage adaptation. There have been a few project the film as an integral part of the more particularly about the transition attempts in England, starting in show. Adjusting what happens on stage, period between silent cinema and the in 1983, and Broadway two years later. on the screen and in the orchestra pit talkies. Singin’ also talks about the theme Contrary to An American in Paris, which is an infinitely precise mechanism. Not of success, the dream of becoming a really was a world premiere at the to mention the choreography, which star, just like Mankiewicz’s famous film Châtelet in November, there is an earlier bears a huge burden of expectation Eve. And the structure of the film, with version of Singin’ and an existing libretto from the public: Singin’ in the Rain its clever plot twists, is more complex which follows the story of the film quite is one of the films where dance was than it seems: for instance the young closely. most beautifully filmed. We needed a idealist actress Kathy Selden meets Don choreographer who could create dance Lockwood without realizing that she’s When did Jean-Luc Choplin, the director numbers as brilliantly as Kelly and talking to a major film star.T hey run into of the Châtelet, ask you to come on Donen themselves. That is why I reached each other again an hour later at the board that adventure? What was your out to Stephen Mear, a very inventive party thrown by the studio, Monumental initial reaction? British choreographer, who the Châtelet Pictures, and to Kathy’s dismay, Don If I remember correctly it was in the audiences already know for his work on recognizes her as a chorus girl. These ‘tit summer of 2013. I didn’t even take time Bernstein’s On the Town in 2008-09. I for tats’ embedded into one another are to think about it or watch the film again always try to pick the best collaborators really sophisticated. And finally, Nacio – I immediately agreed. First because in each field! And Stephen truly is the Herb Brown and Arthur Freed’s songs of the film itself and the challenge of best for dance. He’s an expert for tap are all hits. We know that the film’s adapting it for the screen, and because dancing as well as jazz, solos, duos and scriptwriters, Adolph Green and Betty of my friendship with Jean-Luc Choplin big ensemble numbers.

8 In the end your work on the film to 1927, anchoring the characters and resembles a set of Russian dolls: a situations into their time. Singin’ in stage homage to a film which is itself a the Rain is an evocation of black and homage to cinema... white movies. So, together with my two That is true. My responsibility is to try partners in crime - the set designer and reach the level of expectation set Tim Hatley and the costume designer by the film. But in order to respect the Anthony Powell - we created a visual film you also need to step away from it. palette using all the shades between That was the case for My Fair Lady, and black and white. […] again for Singin’ in the Rain. Our job is not to remake the film for the stage: that is Does Singin’ in the Rain follow naturally strictly impossible. We were faced with from the rest of your career? countless problems in the process. At the I don’t know, I don’t think in those terms. beginning of the film for instance, Don I have been lucky enough to turn my Lockwood is being interviewed on the into a job. My goal is to explore red carpet at the premiere of The Royal new ground with each new project, and Rascal. He comes up with a fantasised to attempt to be as faithful as possible to version of his past and talks about his the material I’m working on. In the space brilliant, elitist education. But as he of a few weeks I have gone from Les speaks, the screen shows the real facts, Fêtes vénitiennes, a 1710 Campra opera, which are much less impressive. How to Singin’ in the Rain, a 1952 film turned do you recreate that cinematographic into a musical in 1983 and reactivated flashback in the theatre, in the midst on the Châtelet stage in 2015. What a of a scene? A character speaks, and in jump! But these two works have more in just ten seconds you are supposed to be common than you would think : both are thrown into their past. Another obvious pure entertainment, with no elements of difficulty was the viewpoint: in the tragedy whatsoever, converging towards cinema, you can use a wide spectrum a happy ending… For me the countdown of shots, from close-ups to long shots. to Singin’ in the Rain has already started. In the theatre, the audience’s point of It is an exciting challenge : in the cinema, view never changes. That is where the you watch the same show every night. director’s and the lighting designer’s In the theatre, the artists create a work work come into play, to create the illusion that is unique, and the audience have of close-ups, zoom and travelling. their part to play too. I know that the Paradoxically, this cinematographic public will want to see Singin’ in the Rain language is very important to me when because of their memories of the film, of I’m directing a show for the stage. the imprint it has left on their collective memory. But from the very first minutes How did you treat the time of the action, of the show they will take part in a whole the late 1920s ? new creation. Singin’ in the Rain, the film The film is set in 1927 but because is one entity – and Singin’ in the Rain of the costumes and the beautiful at the Châtelet is another one entirely, saturated Technicolor colours, you often a new look at a cinematographic get the feeling that the time of the action masterpiece. coincides with the time of the shooting (1952). I insisted on bringing our stage Interview by Stéphane Lerouge production of Singin’ in the Rain back

99 Anthony Powell Costumes

Singin’ in the Rain is set in the early 20th work, and a terrible responsibility too. century, in the transition period between For example when Glenn Close asked silent cinema and the advent of the me to design her costumes for Cruella talkies. But if you look at the costumes DeVil in 101 Dalmatians, I asked her how in the film carefully you will see that a she was planning to play the part and lot of them reflect the fashion of the she replied, ‘I have absolutely no idea! period when it was made, i.e., the 1950s You make the costumes, and then I shall rather than the 1920s. So I worked in look in the mirror and I shall know how the way that I always do and researched to do it!’ that period extensively. I found out very interesting things about American As a costume designer, if you take a fashions; while many rich women were very strong line and make a mistake, dressed by Parisian designers, there actors will give the wrong performance. was a unique American style for men, They will look in the mirror and see a which was often based on golf clothes person they don’t recognize, and they (the knickerbockers that many of the will become that person. So Glenn and male characters wear in the show) or I talked about Cruella and I said ‘This inspired by the Duke of Windsor (the crazy caricatural figure must have had a Windsor tie knot for instance, which is childhood, she must have grown up in a still used today). house, with a mother and father – where could that be? I think that she grew up If one is designing a period play or film I in a military family in India.’ I thought think it’s very important to try and adopt of the English actress Joanna Lumley, a historical perspective, and observe who has exactly that background, and that time from the characters’ point although she’s not all like Cruella, I told of view, as it were. I always try to read Glenn that her accent would be perfect diaries and novels from the period, or, for the character. So I even act as voice even better, talk to people who lived in coach sometimes - in fact, the clothes that period in order to discover it from are almost the last thing I work on! their eyes. This way you don’t just look at photos and think, ‘Gosh, didn’t they look funny at that time! Why on earth did they wear those funny clothes?’

A lot of the time the work of a costume designer is about dramaturgy. Both in the theatre and in the cinema, I always think of it in musical terms, in terms of orchestrating the story. That’s one of the most interesting things about the

10 stephen mear choreography

How is Singin’ in the Rain different from tell the story and drive the narrative other musicals you’ve worked on? How forward. This enables the numbers to would you describe its dance compo- be seamless, and with a good collabo- nent? ration you will not be able to see where There are so many different styles of the direction ends and the choreography dance in this show, jazz, ballet, tap, and begins. this brings an excitement with it to be It’s a genre that really suits my style of able to choreograph a variation of num- choreography; musicals excite me and bers. Also the chance to capture the wholeheartedly feed my passion for the stylish 1920s is always a joy, it’s a won- arts. derful classic that every choreographer dreams of being able to do at some point Interview by the press office in their career.

How does it feel to be back at the Châtelet, 6 years after On the Town (2008-09)? It’s exciting to be back at the Châtelet I love it here and I jumped at the chance to return. It’s my first time working with Robert which adds to the experience and gives me something extra to look forward to. I have worked with Tim and Anthony, so this collaboration - old and new - I’m sure will work great and do everything to bring the audience a fabu- lous musical production.

What is the appeal of musical theatre for you? I have always loved musicals, especially the old classic films that I would watch with the family as a young child. I danced myself for many years in some wonder- fully huge productions in the West End which gave me an even stronger passion for them. Now, as a choreographer, I love to be able to collaborate. I don’t dance for dance’s sake. I like the choreogra- phy to be character-driven which helps

11 TIM HATLEY sets

You said, about your work on the best people in the industry of film and musical adaptation of the hit film theatre. Robert and Anthony are no , “I think it’s always a exception. We all work separately but in tricky thing having a film going onto tandem, keeping a close eye on what the the stage”. After Shrek and , other is doing. When we get together we among other big successes, here you fire off ideas against each other and that are again creating your own version of is where the collaboration is at its finest. a show that has been adapted for the Having worked together previously, stage before but is first and foremost there is a shorthand and understanding based on a film. What have you learned of each other, which is a wonderful thing. about this process? There is always an expectation from the Could you describe some of your audience as the film is usually know to designs for Singin’ in the Rain and how them. The stage version in my opinion you went about creating your version of always has to acknowledge the film the musical? version, but not necessarily copy it. The style is cinematic in that we have Theater is its own medium or language, adopted the aesthetic of black and white and the design has to embrace what films. With that in mind, we have created theatre can do well, rather than trying to a cinematic language on the stage, but be a slave to the film. keeping it very theatrical. The set is an empty space, a film studio, where there You have extensive experience in is a feeling that anything can happen, theatre, film, musicals, opera and we can go to any place, swiftly and designing exhibitions, but you always economically. seem to come back to Broadway and the West End. What’s the appeal of The film is a reflection on the early days musicals for you? of cinema. What did you learn about I enjoy all types of design, they are not the work of production designers in the limited to a particular genre. I work on 1920s? projects that people ask me to do, and There is a wonderful low-tech innocence always get excited when it's something I and simplicity to much of the work in have not done before. It keeps everything that period, and I have tried to embrace fresh. this influence.

You’re back at the Châtelet after Interview by the press office working on My Fair Lady with Robert Carsen and Anthony Powell. Could you please tell us a bit more about your collaboration? I am fortunate to have worked with the

12 Dan burton Don Lockwood

To be given the opportunity to play the role of Don Lockwood in Robert Carsen and Stephen Mear’s production of Sin- gin’ in the Rain at the Théâtre du Châtelet is a dream come true.

Not just because it’s a fantastic op- portunity or even because the role was created by one of my idols Gene Kelly; I have another reason to be thrilled about stepping into his shoes that is closer to home. My dad was a dancer; he danced with Kelly in the French movie musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort and for the short time they were together, got to know him quite well. My dad’s stories, combined with my love of music and dance, have given me the passion and love I have for musical theatre.

I have had the pleasure of working with Stephen Mear on numerous occasions and I feel his innovative choreography epitomises Gene Kelly’s style: beautiful- ly intricate, timeless, effortless, elegant, indelible, thrilling, a unique ability with a class that sets him apart from the rest.

I’m so excited to think that in a couple of months I’ll be at the Théâtre du Châtelet ‘singing ... and dancing ... in the rain’.

13 daniel crossley Cosmo Brown

In 2013, whilst on holiday in Paris, a As Singin’ in the Rain is also one of the friend and I met with the Soprano Re- most well-loved and popular movie mu- becca Bottone and her husband Nick, sicals of all time, we have the responsi- for a coffee one afternoon at the Théâtre bility of somehow acknowledging those du Châtelet. Rebecca was performing iconic, breathtaking, on-screen perfor- in Sunday in the Park with George; and mances, and reimagining them for the despite only seeing the front of house, stage - no easy task! The “Make ‘Em and the outside of the building, I remem- Laugh” sequence in the film is the most ber thinking at the time how wonderful it awe-inspiring example of physical would be to one day perform there my- comedy. Donald O’Connor’s energy and self. I was aware of their recent musical athleticism is famously said to have productions; but had never had the op- landed him in hospital after repeate- portunity to see one, let alone be in one. dly performing his run up the wall trick. Life however works in mysterious ways, One aspect of playing Cosmo I definitely and here I am two years later about to hope to avoid! start rehearsals for Singin’ in the Rain. Considering the mighty shoes we have to Singin’ in the Rain is a show that is parti- fill, we fortunately have a brilliant crea- cularly special to me having played Cos- tive team; three of which I have been luc- mo Brown in the 2011 Chichester Fes- ky enough to work with before, to guide tival Theatre revival, and subsequently us through the process, and help create in the West End, at the Palace Theatre. what I’m sure will be a wonderful expe- Musical comedy has played a fairly large rience in the theatre. I’ve no doubt that part in my career so far, and Singin’ in the the Parisian audiences will be swept Rain is without a doubt, one of the finest away by the many magical moments in examples of it there is. Cosmo is the the show, and fall in love with it all over clown of the piece, providing the perfect again. I’m sure I will too. comic foil for Don Lockwood’s handsome Hollywood hero. Like all clowns however, there is a strong element of pathos in Cosmo, which I think is as important as the comedic elements in establishing him as a character: one somehow in- forms the other. It is a physically deman- ding, but hugely rewarding role, and I am thrilled to be returning to it for the third time in this brand new production at Théâtre du Châtelet.

14 CLARE Halse Kathy Selden

I first started dancing and singing at a ting to think about the time when actors very early age and was very lucky to be on the screen started to have voices and swept into the world of theatre enthu- the Golden Age of Hollywood movie mu- siastically by my parents, who carted sicals began to blossom. This incredible tutus (and me) around the country for musical will look utterly beautiful on the various dance competitions and shows. Théâtre du Châtelet stage and I cannot As I grew up with this continued enthu- wait to be a part of bringing the dazzling siasm for performing I was introduced 1920s Hollywood to Paris. to the magical world of musical theatre where I would watch actors effortlessly manage to not only act, but dance and sing as well on stage, seamlessly mo- ving between all three skills. I loved wat- ching this done so perfectly in the movie Singin’ in the Rain, as the actors we all know and love sing so beautifully, act so sincerely and tap dance so that we can barely even see their feet touch the floor and they flow from one to the next with such grace and ease. Little can we tell the young Debbie Reynolds had been vi- gorously dance training in order to keep up with Gene Kelly and after 15 grueling hours of shooting the epic dance scene (Good Mornin’), Gene Kelly, of course, chose the first take to be used in the movie! It is clear that Miss Reynold’s herself was as determined as her cha- racter Kathy Selden.

I am absolutely thrilled to have the op- portunity to play Kathy, not only to take on the challenge of acting, singing and dancing with as much grace as Deb- bie Reynolds and those I have watched growing up, but to tell a story that is very much based on the truth, of a fascina- ting and glamorous time in 1920‘s Hol- lywood when the silent movies made way for the talking pictures. It is so exci-

15 Die Zauberflöte and Semele. In Antwerp, he directed a Puccini cycle, Battistelli’s Richard III as well as a Janácek cycle (Je- nufa, Kát’a Kabanová); which continued with The Makropulos Affair, The Cunning Little Vixen and From the House of the Dead at the Opéra national du Rhin. He has also directed Rinaldo and L’in- coronazione di Poppea at the Glynde- bourne Festival; Ariadne auf Naxos in Munich; Salome in Turin, Madrid et Florence; Orfeo ed Euridice in and Toronto; Armide at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; Die Frau ohne Schat- ten for the State Opera; Mitridate at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and at the Theater an der Wien; Iphigénie en Tauride in Chicago, Covent biographies Garden, San Francisco, Madrid and To- ronto; My Fair Lady at the Théâtre du Chatêlet and at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg; Candide at the Théâtre du Châtelet, La Scala, the English Na- tional Opera and in Kobé and Tokyo; Il GARETH trovatore at the Bregenz Festival; Mefis- VALENTINE tofele and Eugene Onegin at the Metro- r obert cARSEN politan Opera. musical direction direction and In the theatre, Robert Carsen has direc- lighting design ted Mother Courage and her Children for the Piccolo Teatro of Milan; he conceived Gareth’s conducting credits include: and directed Nomade for at BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philarmo- the Théâtre du Châtelet; Rosencrantz nic Orchestra and Welsh National Opera, Born in Canada, Robert Carsen studied and Guildenstern are Dead at the Roun- among many others. He has arranged acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre dabout Theatre Company in New York; and conducted the music for Strictly School before working as a stage direc- Lady Windermere’s Fan at the Bristol Old Gershwin for English National Ballet. tor and set and lighting designer. Vic. As Musical Supervisor his credits in- Among his recent productions: Les Fêtes Recently he has supervised the de- clude: (Chichester); Kiss Vénitiennes at the Opéra Comique; The sign and artistic direction of four ma- Me, Kate (Chichester/Old Vic); Sondheim Queen of Spades at the Zurich Opera; jor exhibitions in Paris: Bohèmes at the at 80 concerts, Merrily We Roll Along, Die Zauberflöte and Elektra at the Pa- Grand Palais and L’Impressionnisme et Company (); , ris Opera; Platée at the Theater an der la Mode at the Musée d’Orsay; Charles Acorn Antiques, Porgy & Bess, Anything Wien and the Opéra Comique; From the Garnier, Un Architecte pour un Empire at Goes, Crazy For You, My One and Only, House of the Dead at the Opéra National the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts and Aladdin, Sinatra At The London Palla- du Rhin; Rigoletto at the Festival d’Aix Marie-Antoinette at the Grand Palais. He dium, ’s Rearranged, End en Provence, Opéra National du Rhin, la also designed the recent Magritte exhi- of the Rainbow, , Into The Monnaie, the Grand Théâtre de Genève bition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Woods, Gone With The Wind, Camelot and the Bolshoi Theatre; L’Amour des An Officer of the Order of Arts & Let- (West End). As Musical Director his cre- Trois Oranges at the Deutsche Oper Ber- ters in France and an Officer of the Or- dits include: , (Donmar lin; Falstaff at the Royal Opera House, La der of Canada, Robert Carsen has also Warehouse); Pajama Game (Chichester/ Scala and the ; Don received the Grand Prix of the Presse West End); Chicago (also international Giovanni at La Scala; and The Turn of the Musicale Internationale, and he has on tour), The Baker’s Wife, , Screw at the Theater an der Wien (for three occasions received the French , Merrily We Roll Along, Kiss which he also designed his first sets and Critics’ Award and four times the Italian Me, Kate, Camelot, Company, , costumes). Critics’ Franco Abbiate Award. Kiss Of The Spiderwoman, , Robert Carsen has directed many pro- Among his forthcoming projects: the (West End); 50th Birthday National Thea- ductions for the Paris Opera, La traviata world premiere of CO2 by Giorgio Battis- tre Event; Home (NT Shed) Brynfest; Oh, to reopen at the Teatro La Fenice; Der telli at La Scala, Agrippina at the Theater Kay! (Chichester); Alone Together (Kings Rosenkavalier at the Salzburg Festival; an der Wien, Der Rosenkavalier at the Head), and Sleep With Friends (UK Tour). Der Ring des Nibelungen in , Ve- Royal Opera and the Metropolitan Ope- Gareth’s Requiem was recorded at Ab- nice, Shanghai and Barcelona. For the ra, as well as the artistic direction and bey Road and has been performed Amsterdam Opera he has directed Car- design of the exhibition Splendeurs et worldwide including St Eustache in Pa- men, Fidelio and Dialogues des Carmé- Misères at the Musée d’Orsay. ris. He was also a judge for the Channel lites. For the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, 4 series, Musicality. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Orlando, 16 Music (Japan), Bouncers and Women In Love (Derby Playhouse), Shakers (Nor- anthony powell STEPHEN MEAR thampton/Windsor), Love Off the Shelf costumes choreography (Harrogate/Nuffield), Snoopy (Watermill, Newbury), Grease (Athens Greece), She Loves Me (Canada), in Concert (London and Tour). Music Videos British-born, trained at the Central Most recently: City of Angels (Donmar), include: ‘Number 1’ – Goldfrapp, ‘The Saint Martins College of Arts and Design , Amadeus, Pajama Game, Kiss Me Importance of Being Idle’ – Oasis. Televi- in London and assisted Cecil Beaton Kate (CFT, The Old Vic & London), Stephen sion credits include: Psychobitches I & II and , Anthony Powell won Ward (Aldwych Theatre), Die Fledermaus with & Sheila Reid (Sky the 1963 Tony Award for Best Costume (MET – NY), Crazy For You (Regents Park Arts 2012), So You Think You Can Dance Design for School for Scandal by Richard Open Air Theatre, Novello Theatre), Oli- (2009-2010), Victoria Wood’s Christmas Brinsley Sheridan and directed by John vier Award Nomination for Best Choreo- Special (2009) (Stephen also appeared Gielgud both in London and New York. graphy, Olivier Award for Best Musical in the show as Nick from The Appren- Since then, he has continued a string of Revival 2012. Other theatre includes: tice), WinkBingo.com (Advert 2009), Ha- successes, with plays (The Comedy of Betty Blue Eyes (Novello Theatre), Shoes lifax (advert), Megamaths (two series), Errors at the Royal Shakespeare Com- Director and Choreographer (Sadlers Monster Café, Hanger 17, Showtime at pany, by Noel Coward in Wells Theatre, The Peacock Theatre), Me the Stadium (Cardiff). In 2009 Stephen London, New York and US tour ...) and in and My Girl (Sheffield Crucible Theatre), also became Associate Choreographer the world of musicals (Sunset Boulevard (Menier Chocolate Fac- at the Chichester Festival Theatre. by in London and tory Theatre, Theatre Royal Haymar- the , Canada, Germany ket) - Olivier Award Nomination for best and Australia, The Adventures of Tom choreography. Hello Dolly, (Regents Sawyer by Don Schlitz on Broadway ...). Park) - Received Olivier Award for best For film, Powell won his first Oscar for Choreography in 2010 for Hello Dolly, as TIM HATLEY Best Costume Design in 1973 for Travels well as Olivier Award for Best Musical. sets with My Aunt directed by George Cukor. (joint choreographer with He won the second Oscar six years later , London, Broadway, UK for Death on the Nile by John Guillermin tour, US Tour and Australia) - Received and the third in 1981 for Tess by Roman Olivier Award for best Choreography, Tim Hatley trained at the Central St Polanski. Regularly teaming with Po- Tony Award and Drama Desk nomina- Martins School of Art & Design, London. lanski, Anthony Powell has designed the tion for best Choreography, L.A. Drama Winner of 2 Olivier Awards and 2 Tony sets and costumes for the films Pirates Circle Critics Award for best Choreo- Awards. Designs for the National Theatre (which earned him the César award graphy 2010 and in 2011 the Helpmann London include 3 Winters, Great Britain in 1987), Frantic and The Ninth Gate, award in Australia for best Choreogra- (also West End), Small Family Business, as well as Amadeus by Peter Shaffer phy. The Little Mermaid (Broadway). For Welcome To Thebes, Present Laugh- (1981) and costumes for Hedda Gabler Chichester Festival Theatre: She Loves ter, Rafta Rafta, Henry V, The Talking by Ibsen (2003) at the Théâtre Marigny. Me (Director and Choreographer), Music Cure, Vincent In Brixton (also Broadway He has also collaborated with Franklin Man, , How to Succeed, Putting and West End), Hamlet, Sleep With Me, Schaffner for Papillon, it Together, The Grapes of Wrath, Just So Flight, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Out for Buffalo Bill and the Indians, and Ste- (North Shore Music Theatre USA) Sina- Of A House (co-production with Compli- ven Spielberg for the second and third tra (London Palladium and UK tour) - Oli- cite). Designs for the Royal Shakespeare parts of the Indiana Jones series and vier Award Nomination for best choreo- Company include; Richard III, Goodnight Hook. Anthony Powell has also worked graphy. On the Town (ENO, Paris), Acorn Children, Talk Of The City. London & West with the opera, including Capriccio at Antiques (London and UK Tour), Tonight’s End credits include: Bodyguard The Mu- the Paris Opera in 2004, directed by Ro- the Night (Victoria Palace Theatre), Any- sical, Quartermaines’s Terms, Ghosts bert Carsen. He collaborated with the thing Goes (National Theatre and Thea- (also in NY), (also on director again on the musical My Fair tre Royal Drury Lane) - Olivier Award for Broadway), Betty Blue Eyes, Endgame, Lady, created at the Théâtre du Châte- outstanding Musical Production. Singin’ Spamalot (also on Broadway), Mrs Klein let and in a co-production with the Ma- in the Rain (Yorkshire Playhouse, Natio- (Almeida), Pretending To Be Me, What riinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. He has nal Theatre and Tour) - Olivier Award No- The Night Is For, Another Country, Sud- received ‘Lifetime Achievement Awards’ mination for best choreography. Witches denly Last Summer, The 3 Lives Of Lucie for his entire theatre and film career in of Eastwick (joint choreographer with Cabrol (Complicite), Moscow Stations, Hollywood, New York and Italy. , London and Australian Tour), Puntilla & His Man Matti, & Hms Pina- The Three Musketeers (Rotterdam), fore. Broadway credits include: Shrek, Honk! (Japan and Singapore) Don Gio- Spamalot, The Crucible and The Country vanni (Royal Opera House), Stepping Out, Girl. Opera credits include La Traviata Smoking With Lou Lou and Half a Six- (Vlaamse Opera); The Marriage Of Figaro pence (Yorkshire Playhouse), Soul Train (Aix-en-Provence and Tokyo); Love For (London and UK Tour) - Olivier Award No- Three Oranges (Cologne Opera); Carmen, mination for best choreography. Of Thee Orpheus In The Underworld, The Re- I Sing (Bridewell Theatre), A Little Night turn Of Ulysses (Opera North); Ariadne

17 Auf Naxos, Il Trovatore (Scottish Opera) Maggot. He has also produced for Trans- Madrid), winner of best production Pre- and Les Miserables (Gothenburg Ope- parant Chamber Music Theatre, notably mios Líricos (Teatro Campoamor 2014), ra). Dance credits include: Don Quixote Mozart’s Zaide (1995), and Mahagonny Kovanisgate (Birmingham Opera), Die (Royal Ballet), Roughcut (Rambert), Cin- Songspiel and Happy End (1997) by Zauberflöte (Teatro Lirico di Cagliari), derella (Northern Ballet) Film credits Brecht and Weill, and written a dramatic e Brundibar (Maggio Fioren- include: Notes On A Scandal (2006) and biography of the composer Erich Korn- tino), Das Rheingold, winner of best pro- Stage Beauty (2004), both directed by gold, Between Two Worlds, performed duction Abbiati Price 2013, Die Walküre, , and Closer (2004), directed at the Covent Garden Festival (1996). In Anna Bolena (Teatro Massimo, Palermo), by . Other work includes 2003 he devised a show for Ute Lemper La Traviata (Teatro S Carlo Napoli e Pe- designing the exhibition ‘Vivienne Wes- called Nomade which was performed at truzzelli Bari), My Fair Lady (Théâtre du twood – A London Fashion’ for the Mu- the Châtelet in Paris and which was re- Châtelet Paris, Mariinsky Theatre, St. seum of London and ‘Diaghilev & The corded on DVD. Petersburg), Mose in Egitto and Gugliel- Golden Age Of The Ballet Russes’ for the He has written over fifty articles on mo Tell (Rossini Opera Festival, Teatro V & A. opera and about individual operas for Regio Torino e Comunale di Bologna), programmes and magazines published The Makropulos Case, Boris Godunov by, amongst others, Vienna State Opera, (Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg), Die Metropolitan Opera, English National Zauberflöte (Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow), ian burton Opera, The Flemish Opera, The Cologne L’elisir d’amore (Glyndebourne Festival, dramaturge Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the NCPA Beijing), Salome (Malmö Opera), Paris Opera (Bastille and Salle Garnier), Faust (Opéra National de Bordeaux), Grand Théâtre de Geneve, Grand Théâtre Otello (Grosses Festspielhaus, Salz- de Bordeaux, Festival d’Aix-en-Pro- burg, Teatro dell’Opera, Rome) and La Ian Burton was born and educated in vence, Muziek Teater Amsterdam, the clemenza di Tito (Teatro Regio, Turin). He Yorkshire; he has an honours degree Welsh National Opera, etc. He has also has also designed sets and lighting for from Leeds University (1963) and a PhD written scenarios for ballets, notably Elektra, Cassandra (Teatro Massimo Ca- from Bristol University (1981). He is a Cinderella for Northern Ballet Theatre, tania), Carmen (Saarland State Theatre, writer and dramaturg who has worked as well as plays for the theatre, Ente- Saarbrücken), Il Trovatore (Nuremberg with the opera director Robert Carsen ring the Whirlpool (1981), Rokumeikan Opera), Macbeth (Münster Opera), Otello since 1987. He has published eight vo- (a translation of Mishima’s play, 1987), (Kiel Opera) and Semele (Scottish Opera, lumes of poetry - Liberty of the Clink, a trilogy of Love-Suicide plays adapted Glasgow). Book of Poems, Koto, Plain Song, Trying from the Japanese-Amijima, The Love to get to the Island by Night, Low Mass, Suicide of Sonezaki, The Courier on the Dorset Street and Rouflaquettes. His Road to Hell (1991-2), Deranging Angels work has also been published in nume- (1993) and Men’s Doubles (1998). dan burton rous magazines such as Ariel, The Body He has written libretti on Shakespeare’s don lockwood Politic, Stand, The Poetry Review and se- Titus Andronicus, and Dostoevsky’s veral Arts Council Anthologies chosen by White Nights for the young Strasbourg Ted Hughes. He has also written books composer Boris Boulanger–Haas. on music and drama for Cambridge Uni- He has also written libretti for five ope- Theatre credits include Tulsa in Gypsy versity Press under the generic title of ras; Richard III (Antwerp 2005), JJR; Ci- (Savoy Theatre & Chichester Festi- Listen. toyen de Genève (Geneva 2010), The val Theatre), Earl in Five of his verse plays, Genroku Kabuki, Duchess of Malfi (ENO 2009), Pop’pea (Shaftesbury Theatre & Minerva Thea- The Lovers’ Exile, Chikamatsu, Shunkan (Théâtre du Châtelet 2011) and CO2 (La tre, Chichester), Kenickie in Grease (Lju- and The Subscription List have been Scala Milan 2015). bljana Festival Theatre, Slovenia), Joe broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and the World He is currently working on plays about Pesci/understudy Frankie Valli in Jersey Service. He has also written texts for the Emperor Hadrian and St. Isaac of Boys (Prince Edward Theatre), The Wind musical setting by the Dutch composer Syria. in the Willows (Rehearsed Reading), Bar- Eduard Alexander e.g. The Wedding of raclough/understudy Lockwood/Gilbert the Moon and Sun. He was also com- in the original London cast of Betty Blue missioned by BBC Radio to write a play Eyes (Novello Theatre), Nikos/Padama- entitled Mask, broadcast in November dan in the original London cast of Legal- 1995 about Henry Purcell as part of the giuseppe di iorio ly Blonde (Savoy Theatre), Bernardo in tercentenary celebrations, and also a lights (National Tour), unders- play about Francis Poulenc, The Foot of tudy and played Amos Hart in Chicago the Cross or the Muzzle of a Gun broad- (Cambridge Theatre), original London cast by Radio 3 in 1998. cast of Dirty Dancing (Aldwych Theatre), He directs music-theatre performances Born in Naples, he studied at the Guild- Miss Saigon (National Tour) and Opening and in 1994 won the prize for the best hall School of Music and Drama, Lon- Gala of the International Festival of Mu- production of the year given by the Pro- don. He recently lit Tristan and Isolde sical Theatre (New Theatre Cardiff). He vince of Antwerp for his production of (Megaron Athens) Don Giovanni (Aslico appears on the original cast recordings three one-act works by Peter Maxwell Como), The Marriage of Figaro (Goteborg of Dirty Dancing, Legally Blonde and Davies - Eight Songs for a Mad King, Opera), War and Peace (Mariinsky Thea- Betty Blue Eyes. Trained at Laine Thea- Vesalii Icones, and Miss Donnithorne’s tre), Curro Vargas (Teatro de la Zarzuela tre Arts.

18 Could Be Right (Soho Theatre, London), mother, Kathy Nelson. Ensemble in Good Thing Going – Simply DANIEL CROSSLey Sondheim with the Royal Philharmonic cosmo brown Orchestra (Cadogan Hall, London) and Wendy in (Grimsby Audito- Robert Dauney rium). Clare trained at Arts Educational r.f. simpson Schools, London. Theatre includes: Accolade (St James Theatre), Tonight at 8.30 (ETT), (St James Theatre), Lizzie Sid- After leaving drama school Robert por- EMMA KATE dal (Arcola Theatre), Singin’ in the Rain trayed the lackadaisical and cruel cha- NELSON (Chichester Festival Theatre and Palace racter of Lush in Harold Pinter’s The lina lamont Theatre), Me and My Girl, Hothouse. He was also seen as the (Sheffield Crucible), Kiss of the Spider notorious and uncaring magistrate in Woman (Hull Truck), Mary Poppins (Na- Helen Edmundson’s The Clearing or tional Tour), Hello Dolly!, , Emma Kate started her career at the age the menacing matchseller in Pinter’s A Romeo and Juliet, Love’s Desires of Fran- of 12 playing Jenny in Aspects of Love in Slight Ache in both Paris and London. kenstein, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the West End. Theatre credits include: In an English version of Francis Veber’s Oh! What a Lovely War and Where’s Putting on the Ritz (UK Tour), Daisy in Le Dîner de Cons (The Dinner Game) he Charlie (Regent’s Park Open Air Thea- Arthur Pita’s The World’s Greatest Show brought to life the role of Juste Leblanc tre), and Love’s Labours (ROH), Murray’s Girl/Mariella in Stephen before extensively touring Europe, North Lost (National Theatre), Ward (Aldwych Theatre), May Jones/ America and Africa as the Duke of York (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Abigail’s Shirley Kaplan/Jennie Hildebrand in in Eric Emmanuel Schmitt’s Frederick ou Party (Northcott Theatre Exeter), The for The Opera Group (Châ- le boulevard du crime. Followed by per- Snow Queen (Derby Theatre), A Midsum- telet, Paris & Gran Liceu Opera, Barce- formances in successful productions of mer Night’s Dream (Sprite Productions) I lona), Norma Cassidy in Victor Victoria Alfie by Bill Naughton and A Christmas Really Must Be Getting Off (White Bear), (Southwark Playhouse), May Jones/ Carol by Charles Dickens. More recently Roast Chicken (Hen and Chickens), Mo- Shirley Kaplan/Jennie Hildebrand in he portrayed the unrequited aristocrat dern Dance for Beginners (Etcetera Street Scene (Young Vic Theatre, London Sir Edward Ramsay in Rodger’s and Theatre), Boyband (Derby Theatre and & Theater an der Wein, Vienna), Shirley Hammerstein’s The King and I. For te- ), Fosse (Prince of Wa- Kaplan in Street Scene (Opera Toulon), levision amongst others he has played les Theatre), Chicago (), May in Un Ticket Pour Broadway (Opera in Bernard Stora’s Le Grand Charles, Fame (Cambridge Theatre), Cats (New Toulon), Phyllis in 42nd Street (Chiches- Olivier Guignard’s Une Lumière dans la London Theatre). Film credits include: ter Festival Theatre), Princess Mab and nuit, Mark Daniels’ Lady Liberty, the birth The Borghilde Project, Working Lunge. Adelaide in The Enchanted Pig (ROH of a symbol… For the cinema Robert has Television credits include: The Royals Linbury Studio and New Victory Thea- brought to life James Joyce’s Haines (E!), Heartbeat (ITV), The Last Enemy tre NY), Princess Maria in Call Me Ma- for Manoel de Oliveira, Jacques for Bri- (BBC), Coronation Street (ITV), Doctors dam (Gatehouse); Mae in Street Scene gitte Roüan, Captain Karas for Christian (BBC). Radio credits include: Sorry Boys (Young Vic & UK Tour); Babe Williams in Volckman and more recently the volatile You Failed The Audition (BBC). The Pajama Game (Union Theatre); Judy Thomas Ghisbourne Babington for palm Haynes in White Christmas (Theatre d’or winner Abdellatif Kechiche. Royal Plymouth, Mayflower Southamp- ton, Edinburgh Playhouse and Wales CLARE HALSE Millenium Centre Cardiff); Maisie in Kathy Selden The Boyfriend, Susie Trevor in Lady Be Good and Fairy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (all Regents Park Open Air Thea- tre); Buffy and Pearl in Starlight Express Most recently Clare played Majorie May/ (Bochum, Germany); Lady Jacqueline Toreadorable in the acclaimed Chiches- in Me and My Girl (Swan Theatre, High ter Festival Theatre Production of Gy- Wycombe); Amarylis in psy. Other theatre credits include: En- (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Young semble/understudy and played Cherry Manon in Jean de Florette (Jermyn St. Sunday and Mrs Teavee in Charlie and Theatre) and Young Jenny in Aspects of the Chocolate Factory and Tweedle Dee/ Love (Prince of Wales). Pantomimes in- understudy and played Teenage Fiona clude: Cinderella (New Theatre, Cardiff) in Shrek – The Musical (Theatre Royal and Aladdin (King’s Theatre, Edinburgh) Drury Lane, London), Amber Van Tussle Radio and film credits include Zeffi- in (Original UK National Tour), relli’s Jane Eyre, The Angel Of Nitshill Ensemble in Wicked (Apollo Victoria, Road School, The Diary Of Ann Frank for London), Liza in Stiles and Drewe’s Pe- the BBC and Penmarrick and Bill’s New ter Pan – A Musical Adventure (West Frock for BBC radio. Emma would like to Yorkshire Playhouse), Deanna in Wrong dedicate her performance to her grand-

19 practical information

Théâtre du Châtelet, 1 place du Châtelet, 75001 Paris

Performance dates and times Photo credits Press contact

Thursday, March 12 8pm p.1: Production artwork © Philippe Ape- Théâtre du Châtelet Friday, March 13 8pm loig, Théâtre du Châtelet; p.2: from left to 2, rue Édouard Colonne, 75001 Paris Saturday, March 14 3pm right, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and 8pm Donald O’Connor © All Rights Reserved; Édouard Dagher: 01 40 28 29 30 Sunday, March 15 4pm p.3: Jean-Luc Choplin © Tom Volf; p.4: [email protected] Tuesday, March 17 8pm Still of Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain English Press Wednesday, March 18 8pm © 1952 - MGM; p.5: Adolph Green, Betty Owen Spuill: 01 40 28 29 31 Thursday, March 19 8pm Comden and Gene Kelly © Betty Com- [email protected] Friday, March 20 8pm den; p.6: Adolph Green and Betty Com- Saturday, March 21 3pm den © John Springer Collection CORBIS; Download press releases and photos at: 8pm p.7: Gareth Valentine © Tim Connor; p.8: www.chatelet-theatre.com Sunday, March 22 4pm Robert Carsen © 2012 Felipe Sangui- Access code in the press page: Tuesday, March 24 8pm netti; p.9: Singin’ in the Rain costume presse2930 Wednesday, March 25 8pm sketches © 2015 Anthony Powell; p.10: Thursday, March 26 8pm Singin’ in the Rain costume sketches Follow the Châtelet news on: © 2015 Anthony Powell; p.11: Stephen www.facebook.com/theatrechatelet Tickets Mear © All rights reserved; p.12: Garden twitter.com/theatrechatelet set © 2015 Tim Hatley; p.13: Dan Burton www.youtube.com/theatreduchatelet From 10€ to 99€ © Steve Lawton; p.14: Daniel Crossley instagram.com/theatreduchatelet © Clare Park; p.15: Clare Halse © Kim Reservations Hardy Photography; p.16: Outside Grau- mans - Night © 2015 Tim Hatley; Gareth Telephone Valentine © Tim Connor; Robert Carsen +33 1 40 28 28 40 © 2012 Felipe Sanguinetti; p.17: An- Monday - Saturday 10am to 7pm thony Powell © Jane Dennell; Stephen Mear © All Rights Reserved; Tim Hatley Online © Robert James Charling-Brown, p.18 : www.chatelet-theatre.com Ian Burton © Ian Burton; Giuseppe di Iorio © All rights reserved; Dan Burton Box Office © Steve Lawton; p.19: Daniel Crossley 17, avenue Victoria, 75001 Paris © Clare Park; Clare Halse © Kim Hardy Monday - Saturday 11am to 7pm Photography; Emma Kate Nelson © Ri- chard Blower; Robert Dauney © Stuart Mcallister; p.20: Théâtre du Châtelet © Gilles Alanso 20