ET 15: SINGING IN THE RAIN: MUSICAL NUMBERS

“Singin’ In The Rain”, a film by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, is one of the most well made musicals ever produced. The movie is mainly about the evolution of the film industry and is also a tribute to all musicals. Throughout the entire film, there are three musical numbers that tell the story of boy and girl and how the romance blossoms– which are “All I Do Is Dream Of You The Whole Night Through”, “You Were Meant For Me” and of course – “Singing In The Rain”.

In the musical number - “All I Do Is Dream Of You The Whole Night Through” which had Debbie Reynolds perform with other dancers, conveyed the message of youth to the audience. The main color that the costumes that these young dancers wear are light pink, a very feminine color that is associated with the female gender. The costumes are also made such that it exposes the assets of a woman – the legs and breasts. Additionally, this musical number is also the very first part of the story of boy and girl – the part of how boy meets girl. The lyrics of the song brings forth the message of young love and how young girls dream day and night about the men they fall in love with. It is enhanced even more due to the fact that the casting is entirely composed of young women (including Debbie Reynolds)! If one even bothers to notice the other dancers accompanying Debbie, they are casted with longer and much bulkier faces. The fact that they casted slightly less attractive women as dancers and even placed Debbie in the middle of all of them created a sort of focus on Debbie as the main character’s love interest.

“You Were Meant For Me”, a musical number that included both Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, is a personal favorite of mine. It brings forth the message of the romance blossoming. The way Debbie is dressed in this scene portrays a very feminine character. She is dressed in very light purple and is wearing a skirt – something we associate a typical female with. Gene however, is dressed as the typical male. Wearing white to symbolize the “good guy” and a top that enhances his chest area, it creates an image of “The Knight In Shining Armor”. In terms of the plot, this is the scene where the boy and girl find romance. They both find that they were destined to be together. The way Gene Kelly sets up the stage and decreases his power by letting Debbie tower over him portrays the message of she is his weakness and only Debbie will have control over him and in turn, Debbie is serenaded by Gene though at the end, it is Gene who has higher status to signify that he is able to take care of her, as the more protective partner. This musical number is almost the most important scene in my point of view as it informs the audience that the romance between both of them is blossoming and there is chemistry between the both of them. However, the romance is not at its peak, as they do not kiss even after the entire scene.

The third musical number – “Singing In The Rain”, a solo by Gene Kelly is also an important scene in the movie. In the beginning of this scene, both Debbie and Gene kiss for the first time in the movie, completing the boy meets girl story. This musical number is essential in this movie as it finishes the romance story with the boy kisses girl act. Also, as Gene Kelly begins singing, he struts happily on the wet pavement with confidence as he waves to the other passerbys that are rushing to their destination. This portrays that he has finally found that someone he intends to spend his entire life with and is not bothered by neither the rain nor anyone else for that matter. As he dances in the rain with that wide smile on his face, it also creates an image of a child that is playing in the rain. As he embraces the rain, there is a feeling of release of the passion and pleasure in him. He goes on playing around with the water – a symbol of pureness and clarity as he has found himself pure love and has now found clarity in his life.

All in all, I think these three musical numbers were important as these three musical scenes made up the romance story between Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. It was beautifully crafted such that their romance story was to take place in a story of the film industry. If it were not for these three famous scenes, dancing and music making in this era would not have been the same at all!