Not only does the Little Theatre-On the Square's production of "The Wedding Singer" sport a distinct set, but the Sullivan theater show has some additional new features on display as well.

The stage is new.

Earlier this week, managing director John Stephens was recovering from a few late nights.

" 'Singing in the Rain' finished its run, thank God," he said. "It was a great show with great crowds, but we had a little problem."

Like much of Central Illinois, The Little Theatre had a rain problem. Not rain from outside - rain from the production.

Almost all of the water used for rain scenes during the musical was re-collected as it was supposed to, via gutters and troughs on stage.

The key word, however, is "almost."

"Probably 99 percent of the water ended up where it was supposed to," Stephens said. "But that other 1 percent wound up on the stage. The design changed five or six times, but nothing was 100 percent.

"About halfway through, it started showing as we had problems moving scenery around. The seams on the stage were just puffing up. There were about 35 layers of paint on the stage, or else it would have been a lot worse."

To repair the problem, 36 sheets of Masonite were ordered, and a crew of 15 worked into the early morning hours Monday to complete the stage replacement.

"It made for a late night," Stephens said.

And it completed a long weekend. During Friday's children's show of "Cinderella," the theater was evacuated when a light was left too close to a curtain and a fire started.

"It was small; we put it out before the fire department got there," Stephens said. "And most of the people stuck around. I guess they really wanted to see the show."

And Friday night's "Singing in the Rain" was delayed almost an hour as the theater was without power.

Stephens, however, was excited about the set for "The Wedding Singer."

"It's just beautiful," he said. "It's completely unlike the Broadway version, because that was so big. The backdrop has paintings of 1980s icons on it, so there's Tina Turner and Mr. T and things you'll look at and think, 'Oh, what was I thinking?' "

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