Turning movies into stage shows is done all the time, as evidenced recently by “9 to 5 the Musical,” “Shrek the Musical” and, of course, “The Producers,” which was first a movie, then a smash Broadway musical and then a less-than-successful movie musical.

But “Singin’ in the Rain,” which I first saw in a touring version nearly 25 years ago, has always been something different. It’s not a stage adaptation of a movie - it’s an attempt at a stage replication of a movie.

Specifically, that’s the beloved 1952 MGM blockbuster that starred Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds as show-biz pals during the rough transition from silent movies to talkies in the era of flappers.

Their three performances, along with Kelly’s choreography and a hot cameo dance by leggy Cyd Charisse, are so embossed on the mind that the stage versions have always struggled with the same problem. They’re overshadowed by the movie - which, after all, is a film fantasy about the magic of film fantasies and doesn’t seem right on the stage, even when the rain streams from shower jets and launches the iconic splash fest.

There’s also a knowing wink in the movie -- a satire about the wonderful silliness of movie-making -- that never seems to make a compelling transition to the stage. What was a corny wink then is just corny now. What was bubbling mirth then seems forced now.

That said, I have to say this: Gee whiz (there’s an appropriate expression), it’s neat (ditto) to see a platoon-sized chorus and tap-dancing principals hoofing splendidly on a big stage to songs we all know.

The version that opened this week at the Ordway Center in St. Paul is a big, big show of production numbers, lavish costumes and elaborate sets, and it’s easy to forget that its characters never really rise beyond caricature -- with big, swooping gestures, overblown poses and voices so amplified that you wonder if the songs are really coming out of their mouths.

James Rocco, the Ordway’s current producing artistic director, has staged “Singin’ in the Rain” a number of times over the past 20 years in various venues and mostly with the same two leads: Michael Gruber as Don (the Gene Kelly role) and Christina Saffran Ashford as Kathy (the Debbie Reynolds ingénue). They are both first-rate singers and dancers, as is local stalwart Tony Vierling in the Donald O’Connor second-banana role.

You admire their courage as much as their talent - especially when Vierling muscles his way through the famous “Make 'Em Laugh” number that rocketed Donald O’Connor to fame, or when Gruber and the lithe Zhauna Franks (in the Cyd Charisse role) tackle the exhausting “Broadway Ballet” that was Gene Kelly’s bouquet to art.

When the trio of Ashford, Gruber and Vierling rip into the “Good Mornin’ ” number, the depth of the show’s talent and discipline is on display. But as wonderful as they are, you remember the sheer happiness of that scene in the film. That kind of magic is hard to replicate night after night on the stage, at the close of a demanding first act.

Less successful is Austene Van in the role of Lina Lamont, the talentless star with the shrieking voice. Cast opposite performances that are already huge and overblown, Van has to top them, and that task frequently drives her over the top. She does, however, manage to mine the laughs in the silent-film inserts and in the scenes with the crazed silent-film director, played by Michael Brindisi, who is desperately trying to figure out how to make movies with sound.

What satisfies hugely is the procession of production numbers, done at breakneck speed and with lavish elements. When the chorus comes on in yellow rain slickers and crimson umbrellas to splash once more in the street scene, you lean back and smile and think, “Gosh, this is swell.” It’s been said that “Singin’ in the Rain” was the happiest movie ever made. The Ordway production comes pretty close.

“Singin’ in the Rain” continues through June 28 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul. For tickets and other information, go here.