'Singin' in the Rain' to open for 2-weekend run

K.C. Kenney, left, as Cosmo Brown adn Joe Dennehy as Don Lockwood in the Croswell production of 'Singin' in the Rain.'

Whether it's cloudy or sunny this weekend, Adrian's Croswell Opera House will be filled with music.

Adrian's historic theater will open Singin' in the Rain Friday for a two-weekend run.

Based on the 1952 film starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor, Singin' in the Rain is set in the early 20th century, when movies were shifting from silence to sound. Don Lockwood and Lena Lamont are popular silent film stars who are linked romantically by their studio, Monumental Pictures, a ploy that doesn't sit well with Don.

When a rival studio has a huge hit with its first talking picture, Monumental decides it has to follow suit, and who better to do it than Don and Lena? One problem: Lena has a voice that can scratch glass.

Don's best friend, Cosmo Brown, comes up with the idea to dub Lena's voice with that of a young actress, Kathy Selden, with whom Don is falling in love. Lena does not take kindly to the ideas of dubbing and of losing Don to an ingenue.

Directed by Brian Hissong and choreographed by Jodi Adkins Hissong of New York City, the cast features Toledoans Joe Dennehy and K.C. Kenney as, respectively, Don and Cosmo, Lucy Hagedorn of Berkey, Ohio, as Lena, and Marlena Hilderley of Tecumseh, Mich., as Kathy.

(Audience members who saw the Croswell's previous production of Singin' in the Rain in 2001 may remember Dennehy for his flawlessly acrobatic dancing as Cosmo. He also played Lockwood in 2009 for a Black Swamp Players' production.)

"Singin' in the Rain" is scheduled at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 14 in the Croswell Opera House, 129 East Maumee St., Adrian. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors over 60 and students (with ID), and $15 for ages 12 and younger. Information: 517-264- 7469 or croswell.org.

Benefit reading

The Toledo Repertoire Theatre is presenting a sneak preview of its EdgyRep Reading series.

Scheduled as the EdgyRep finale next July, Stephen Vicchio's Ivan and Adolf: The Last Man in Hell also will be presented Saturday at 20 North Gallery as a fund-raiser for the Rep.

The story features Ivan Karamazov from The Brothers Karamazov and Adolf Hitler struggling to find redemption.

The event begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and a chance to meet the Rep's new artistic director, Steve Burnette, and view the artworks on display in the gallery at 18 North St. Clair St., near Fifth Third Field. The reading will start at 7:30.

Tickets are $100 a person, $175 a couple, available from the Rep, 419-243-9277. All proceeds go to the theater.

'Les Miz' tickets

Theater League has announced the dates for single-ticket sales for Les Miserables, coming to the Stranahan Theater Nov. 8-13. (Season tickets for the Broadway at the Stranahan series have been on sale since spring.)

Telephone and Internet sale of tickets, with prices starting at $23, begin at 10 a.m. Aug. 21. Box office sales begin at 9 a.m. Aug. 22.

The 25th anniversary production of the musical based on the book by Victor Hugo features new staging and scenery inspired by Hugo's paintings. The story of an ex-convict, Jean Valjean, and his quest for redemption includes such well-known songs as "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," "Bring Him Home," "Do You Hear the People Sing?," and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."

Les Miserables kicks off the 2011-2012 Broadway at the Stranahan series which also includes My Fair Lady on Dec. 15-18, Jersey Boys on Feb. 7-26, and Beauty and the Beast March 29-April 1. Individual tickets for those shows are not yet available.

Les Miserables tickets will be available at theaterleague.com, Ticketmaster outlets, charge by phone at 800-745-3000, and the Stranahan box office at 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. Information: 419-381-8851.

Contact Nanciann Cherry at: ncherry@theblade.com or 419-724-6130