How the Springer plans to make it rain — safely — during ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ production
The last time the Springer Opera House and water made news together, it wasn’t a happy story for the 149-year-old State Theatre of Georgia.
A year ago, a water main burst outside the Springer in downtown Columbus. It caused $2.4 million worth of damage as the theater’s basement turned into what producing artistic director Paul Pierce called a “5-foot lake.”
Now, the Springer welcomes water onto its stage for a three-week run of “Singin’ in the Rain,” starting Friday.
Billed as the splashiest song-and-dance musical comedy in Broadway history, perhaps more folks are familiar with the 1952 film version, starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor.
And perhaps the most famous scene has Kelly (playing the Don Lockwood character) singing and dancing, well, in the rain — complete with glorious puddle stomping.
So how will the Springer create that scene as authentically as possible without damaging the National Historic Landmark?
“The easy part is making it rain,” Matthew Swindell, the production director, told the L-E. “The difficult part is controlling it and making sure it goes where you want it to go.”
Technical details
To bring the water to the stage, the Springer uses a 300-gallon livestock watering trough with a three-quarter-horsepower sump pump tied to PVC and run through hosing to a lineset hanging over the stage, 20 feet high, where more PVC holds a row of sprinkler heads. About 40 feet of piping is used for the visual effect.
To prevent the water from flooding the theater, the Springer uses a wooden slip stage, a portable platform that can be slid atop part of the permanent stage for the scene, then slid out of the way for the rest of the show.
The slip stage is grated to allow the water to drain into troughs with pond liner underneath it and catch the water.
“It builds up enough water so we can see the iconic splashes and kicks that you see Don (played by Dennis Clark) do, but it doesn’t overflow,” Swindell said. “. . . It was a little nerve-wracking at first.”
Some theaters have used just a screen of rain, Swindell said, but the Springer’s version with the sprinkler heads provides a deeper shower and a more authentic look. So the rainy portion of the slip stage will be 20 feet long and 4-5 feet deep, he said.
About 50-75 gallons of water are used during the five-minute scene, Swindell said. After the performance, a utility pump drains the slip stage to prepare it for the next one, he said.
The acoustics are so good in the theater’s design, Swindell said, the crew doesn’t need to amplify the rain or add artificial sound for the audience to hear it. The lighting designer, Krystal Kennel, ensures the rain can be seen, he said.
Previous experience
The Springer produced this show 17 years ago. But this is the first time such a challenge has been assigned to Swindell, a Columbus State University graduate who has been with the Springer for 11 years.
Books and videos gave him ideas, but the combination of show, theater and budget is different every time, so each production is unique, he said.
Out of around 100 shows in his career, Swindell ranks this among the top three toughest to produce. Making it trickier, producing a theater show that also was a movie means that many folks in the audience could come with an unfair expectation.
“Those methods of storytelling don’t necessarily line up,” he said.
But the challenge also has been a joy.
“That is the fun part of it, when you can recreate those iconic things that people know,” he said, “and it’s like, ‘Oh, wow! That’s right in front of my face.’”
Understanding it’s a classic scene, Swindell said, “You don’t want to mess too much with it.”
But the practical considerations of logistics require the production to present “some flair and individuality and something that is particular and special to us both as individuals and creatives but also to the Springer Opera House.”
During the show’s production 17 years ago, Pierce said, “We did have some mishaps with water going where it shouldn’t go.”
That time, the crew created a trench on a slip stage, which was slanted for the water to drain, but it created too many errant splashes, Pierce said — most worrisome toward the orchestra pit.
“It wasn’t much and nothing got hurt,” he said, “but it did cause us to stop the rehearsal to take care of the water.”
Pierce said he wouldn’t let this show return to the Springer if he didn’t trust Swindell to safely produce the risky scene.
“We take our legacy as stewards of the Springer very seriously,” Pierce said, “not just protecting the building but making this great stage do what it was built to do.”
IF YOU GO
What: “Singin’ in the Rain”
Where: Springer Opera House, main stage, 103 10th St.
When: March 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m.; March 15, 22 and 29 at 2:30 p,m.
Tickets: $20 to $47, available online at SpringerOperaHouse.org, by phone at 706-327-3688 or at the box office 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and two hours before showtime.
