Lani Corson
Singin’ in a Rainstorm: A Debbie Reynolds Story
The Green Room 42, NYC, August 23, 2026
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Every so often, a cabaret show comes along that is definitely off-beat, with some eccentric choices being made. Singin’ in a Rainstorm certainly fell into this category. At first glance it seemed like just another tribute to a well-known show-biz personality. Then it revealed itself to be a fully thought out (more or less) one-act musical drama. Ellen Grace Diehl was top billed as the playwright and producer but was nowhere in sight at The Green Room 42. Instead, second-billed Lani Corson performed as the title character, with Aidan S. Wells serving as music director and pianist. Broadway veteran Melissa Rain Anderson was listed as the vaguely defined creative consultant. No one had actually been assigned the role of director, which was obvious at times.
There was no attempt to have Corson imitate Reynolds in either voice or appearance. But she did certainly capture the personality of the Hollywood icon with her energy, her humor, and her vocal delivery (she even did a bit of tap dancing). With great sarcastic humor, she recounted the sad tale of her (Renolds’) three husbands wrapped around the classic tune “All I Do Is Dream of You” (Nacio Herb Brown/Arthur Freed); it was a clever device. She talked with pride about her children, especially daughter Carrie “Princess Leia” Fisher. (Some awkward foreshadowing about their deaths one day apart was best overlooked.)
In fact, one of the issues with the show was its nebulous time frame. Reynolds has put her marriages and her lost hotel behind her, and there are references to Star Wars and to Postcards from the Edge. So exactly when did this cruise occur? Oh yes, we were supposedly on a cruise ship where the movie star was performing a club act with the energy and enthusiasm of a much younger woman. The setup led to one of the strangest occurrences of the evening: Corson/Debbie interrupted the show and left the room, which allowed for a very unlikely joke advertisement. This was, in fact, an attempt to hide a costume change, but its length and unlikelihood just robbed the show of its forward motion.
Corson did have enough energy and warmth to eventually win the audience back. She brought an actress’ approach to “I Ain’t Down Yet” (Meredith Willson) and genuine charm to “You’re the Cream in My Coffee” (Ray Henderson/Buddy G. DeSylva/Lew Brown). There was also a clever medley of three “happy” songs: “I Want to Be Happy” (Vincent Youmans/Irving Caesar/Otto Harbach), “Singin’ in the Rain” (Nacio Herb Brown/Arthur Freed), and “Put on a Happy Face” (Charles Strouse/Lee Adams). She also had great fun with a Debbie Reynolds-adjacent number, “I’m Still Here” (Stephen Sondheim), using the revised version that Shirley MacLaine delivered while pretending she was not playing Debbie in the movie of Postcards From the Edge.
What the show lacked was focus. That didn’t overwhelm its potential for entertainment, and the evening was certainly amusing. An further revision could definitely solve a lot of the issues.
