Stage show is making a splash

Maxwell, who has starred in Emmerdale and the film Grease 2, plays studio boss R F Simpson in the musical, while former Steps singer Faye Tozer is the ‘uniquely voiced’ starlet Lina Lamont.

The show calls at Nottingham from Tuesday 4th to Saturday 15th February and Maxwell describes it as a ‘very dynamic show’ with a ‘fantastic score, award-winning choreography, beautiful set and very strong company’.

“A lot of people are very familiar with the story but when you watch it in the theatre, it has a whole other aspect to it,” Maxwell said.

Singin’ in the Rain is part way through a nationwide tour and Maxwell says that it has been extremely well-received everywhere it has been.

Highlights include the show-stopping Broadway Melody sequence and the famous song that gives the story its name, but it is the spectacular use of 12,000 litres of water that leaves a lasting impression on the audience.

Said Maxwell, who was born in neighbouring Derbyshire: “The kids love to get soaked and sometimes even stand on their chairs to get splashed by the rain!

“To see a deluge on the stage is quite something.

“We have had some mishaps with that - it’s not been without error - but we have got the kinks out and have never failed to get the stage effect to work.

“There have been some backstage floodings though!”

Visiting different theatres up and down the land helps keep the show ‘fresh’ according to Maxwell.

“We are enjoying doing it, coming to these beautiful venues. With the Theatre Royal, there’s just something about it as soon as you step onto the stage,” he added.

Maxwell’s character R F is the big boss who runs the film studio that Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are the silent film stars of. But when rival studios start to produce movies with sound, R F decides that their next film has to be a ‘talkie’ - and a solution to Lina’s grating voice is needed!

Said Maxwell: “I am making him a bit bombastic. I am not the villain of the piece but certainly, while the youngsters are all leaping for joy, my character is cracking the whip, because he is concerned he is going to miss the bus when it comes to the new innovation of sound, spelling the end of the silent film era.”

Maxwell added: “There’s a bit of a tough guy element - Hollywood is a hard knocks industry, it’s survival of the fittest and R F doesn’t mind taking the gloves off.”

Tickets for Singin’ in the Rain are available on 0115 9895555 or www.trch.co.uk.