Concert preview | Debbie Reynolds ready for irreverence with Seattle Men's Chorus

"I used to tour 42 weeks every year, but no more," says Debbie Reynolds.

Calling from Los Angeles while busily packing for six weeks of performances, Reynolds rattles off cities — New York, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City and Chicago among them — she'll be playing this spring.

Reynolds turns 77 on April 1. While she may lessen her overall number of personal appearances these days, this veteran of Hollywood's golden age still possesses formidable energy and versatility.

On Saturday and Sunday, Reynolds will be the featured artist in Seattle Men's Chorus' stage production "Singing ... in the Rain," performing old hits, telling stories from glory days at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's motion-picture studio, and delighting fans with killer impressions of Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart.

"My act is changeable," says Reynolds. "It becomes whoever the audience is."

Having conquered just about every entertainment medium — movies, recordings, Broadway (her Tony Award-nominated role in "Irene") and TV (the Golden Globe-nominated "The Debbie Reynolds Show") — Reynolds' audience is diversified.

Young adults might know her from a recurring role on television's "Will & Grace." But many kids will recognize Reynolds from a series of "Halloweentown" TV movies and voice work for the animated sitcom "Kim Possible."

For the most part, though, Reynolds says she identifies with anyone who can appreciate "Gershwin, standards, lyrics and melody. And some irreverence."

Seattle Men's Chorus' artistic director, Dennis Coleman, says there will be ample opportunity for all of that in "Singing ... in the Rain." Reynolds and the chorus will perform, together and separately, various medleys, tributes and comic moments.

One segment certain to delight will feature the actress discussing the making of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen's 1952 film "Singin' in the Rain." A very young Reynolds was at MGM near the end of the contract system.

"TV came along in 1948," says Reynolds, "and the golden age gradually ended. They kept me, Leslie Caron, Rod Taylor. But every star in the world had been there: Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Mario Lanza, Grace Kelly. It was like a university. You went every day, took dancing and singing. You had to learn everything. It's a lost era."

Barely an adult, Reynolds said her stamina was put to the test on "Singin' In the Rain."

"It was hard for me," she says. "I'd never danced, and suddenly I had five dancing teachers. Gene Kelly was a taskmaster. We worked our butts off. Fortunately, I had endurance."

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com