Adam Cooper returns to the role of Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain return

Adam Cooper

Award-winning dancer and choreographer Adam Cooper will re-create his crowd-pleasing performance as Don Lockwood when the acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre production of Singin’ in the Rain plays a five-week season at Sadler’s Wells next summer.

Cooper first played the iconic role at Sadler’s Wells in the 2004 revival of the show before playing Lockwood once again in the hit 2011 Chichester Festival Theatre production. The latter followed its sold-out Chichester run with an equally popular West End transfer season at the Palace Theatre, beginning in February 2012.

Presented by Michael Harrison and Jonathan Church Productions, the Chichester Festival Theatre and Stage Entertainment Production reunites Cooper with the original creative team of director Jonathan Church, choreographer Andrew Wright, designer Simon Higlett and lighting designer Tim Mitchell.

With performances due to begin on 24 July ahead of an opening night on 30 July 2020, the production will follow its London season by returning to Japan for the third time. Following two triumphant runs in the country in 2014 and 2015, Cooper will take to the stage in Tokyo once again from the end of September 2020.

Cooper’s run at Sadler’s Wells with Singin’ in the Rain will come just a few months after the star will have returned to the London venue after re-joining Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures to star in The Red Shoes.

Cooper first collaborated with Bourne in 1995 to create the iconic role of The Swan in the ground-breaking Swan Lake, a role he played in London, New York, Los Angeles and in Japan. His performance earned him a Time Out Award, Evening Standard Award, Astaire Award for Outstanding Male Dancer and a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.

The star returned to work with Bourne a second time in 1997, creating the role of The Pilot in Cinderella in London and LA. He also famously portrayed ‘grown up Billy’ dancing as ‘The Swan’ in the 2000 film Billy Elliot and his theatre credits include Grand Hotel and Guys and Dolls.

Closely based on the enduringly popular 1952 film, famously directed, choreographed and starring Gene Kelly, Singin’ in the Rain boasts a book by the writers of the original screenplay Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

Set at the birth of the Talkies in late 1920s Hollywood, the story of a silent movie idol who unleashes his inner song and dance man features songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed.

Angela Thomas