A look at the backstage shenanigans and plethora of legends that sprung up around the greatest movie musical of all time.

What’s the greatest movie musical of all time? For many, the answer would have to be Singin’ in the Rain, MGM’s glorious Technicolor homage to the silent movie era’s struggle to survive the advent of the talkies. It’s a film that has spawned a stage show – the title song has even been covered by Asia’s No 1 girl band! – but what exactly is the secret of its success?

“It was made post Second World War, and it’s set post First World War, both eras where the world was looking for things to uplift it,” says Jonathan Church, the British director of the hit stage show now playing in Sydney. “What it does so perfectly, both musically and in terms of its storytelling, is to lift an audience’s spirit and send it out into the world feeling better about life.”

Veteran actor Robyn Arthur, who plays gossipy Hollywood reporter Dora Baily in Church’s production, puts it more simply: “It’s very, very funny and it moves at a cracking pace, but there’s heart in it, there’s so...