Play captures real-life feud behind ‘Singin’ in the Rain’
“She was carrying a torch for Gene, but that was never going to happen — so she married Stanley.” — Jay Berkow, whose play explores the behind-the-scenes love triangle between “Singin’ in the Rain” director Stanley Donen, star Gene Kelly and Kelly’s assistant, Jeanne Coyne
For Jay Berkow, one very awkward silence led to a musical that peeks behind the scenes at one of old Hollywood’s most bitter feuds, fueled by a scandalous love triangle.
“What a Glorious Feeling! The Story of Singin’ in the Rain” is running at Winter Park Playhouse through April 13. It looks at the making of the classic movie and the backstage turmoil caused by the tensions between director Stanley Donen and star Gene Kelly — both of whom had feelings for Kelly’s assistant, Jeanne Coyne.
Berkow first caught wind of the stormy relationship when he attended a special event, during which Donen was interviewed onstage. He was asked about working with Kelly — and his reaction was unexpected.
“He could have said something very bland,” recalls Berkow, director of musical theater at the University of Michigan in Kalamazoo. “Instead, he said ‘I’m not going to talk about that. I haven’t talked about that in 50 years, and I’m not going to talk about it now.’ There was an awkward silence. Everyone was suddenly very uncomfortable.”
Berkow’s curiosity was piqued. He started researching.
He called Donen and requested an interview.
“I can’t stop you from writing this thing,” Berkow recalls the celebrated director telling him, “but I don’t want anything to do with it.”
Berkow learned there was a professional jealousy between the men. While Kelly basked in stardom, Donen “never felt he got the credit he deserved, even though his contributions, in a way, are more important to the history of movie musicals.”
But the personal rivalry was even more intense.
Coyne, who had a small chorus role in “Singin’ in the Rain,” was emotionally involved with both men — even though Kelly was married.
“She was carrying a torch for Gene, but that was never going to happen — so she married Stanley,” Berkow explains. “It was a terrible marriage. She still loved Gene, and Stanley cheated on her left, right and center — including a very famous affair with Elizabeth Taylor.”
Whew. It’s a wonder “Singin’ in the Rain” got made at all.
The play that resulted from this real-life story (I won’t spoil the ending) follows the backstage ups and downs while the 1952 movie was in production. It features the movie’s memorable musical numbers and original choreography so get ready for “Make ’Em Laugh,” “Good Mornin’,” “Broadway Melody” and the title song.
Charles Logan plays Kelly, Adam T. Biner plays Donen and Tay Anderson is Coyne.
Jennafer Newberry steps into the shoes of Debbie Reynolds, and Todd Allen Long is producer Arthur Freed. The Playhouse’s Roy Alan is directing.
Obviously, Berkow had to imagine some of the encounters between his characters.
“It’s definitely fictionalized,” he says of his show, “but it’s definitely inspired by a true story.”
All the characters have died: Freed in April 1973; Coyne, a month later, of leukemia; Kelly in 1996; Reynolds in 2016, one day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher; and five-times-married Donen, just last month at age 94.
Their legacy, however, lives on. “Gene Kelly and ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ are iconic,” Berkow says. “They never go out of our zeitgeist.”
An early version of “What a Glorious Feeling” was staged in 2005, but it was heavily revised in 2014 “and that’s when it really started taking off,” Berkow says. For him, its creation has been a labor of love.
“I’m a huge fan of old Hollywood, I’m a huge fan of ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ ” he says. “It was great fun.”