The Rainmaker (play)

The Rainmaker was a play written by N. Richard Nash in the early 1950s. The play opened on October 28 1954 at the Cort Theatre in New York and ran for 125 performances. It was directed by Joseph Anthony and produced by Ethel Linder Reiner.

The play was translated into over 40 languages and made into the hit 1956 film starring Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn. The story was also made into a Broadway musical, "110 in the Shade". The play was revived on Broadway in 1999-2000 starring Woody Harrelson and Jayne Atkinson who was nominated for the 2000 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The play has been revived frequently.

Set in a drought-ridden rural town in the West in Depression era America, the play tells the story of a pivotal hot summer day in the life of spinsterish Lizzie Curry. Lizzie keeps house for her father and two brothers on the family cattle ranch. She has just returned from a trip to visit cousins, which was undertaken with the failed expectation that she would find a husband. As their farm languishes under the devastating drought, Lizzie's family worries about her marriage prospects more than about their dying cattle. The arrival of a charming confidence trickster named Starbuck promising to bring rain in exchange for $100 sets off a series of events which enable Lizzie to see herself in a new light.

The reviews called the play "Stirring" ("Newsday"), "captivating" ("New York Times"), "wonderfully funny" ("New York Daily News"), and a "classic" ("Chicago Sun-Times"). [http://www.footlightsdc.org/news2003/may03.htm]

Original cast list

*Lizzie Curry - Geraldine Page
*File - Richard Coogan
*Bill Starbuck - Darren McGavin
*H.C. Curry - Cameron Prud'homme
*Sheriff Thomas - Tom Flatley Reynolds
*Jim Curry - Albert Salmi
*Noah Curry - Joseph Sullivan

Resources

* [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=2472 Information about the original Broadway production] at the Internet Broadway Database
* [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=9687 Information about the 1999 revival] at the Internet Broadway Database
* [http://www.footlightsdc.org/news2003/may03.htm Information about the play]

External links

* [http://www.darrenmcgavin.net/darren's_theatre_page.htm Review of the 1954 production]
* [http://www.curtainup.com/b-rainm.html Review of the 1999 revival]
* [http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/1999/11/29/rainmaker/index.html Another review of the 1999 revival]
* [http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/nj/nj113.html Review of another revival]
* [http://thattheatresite.com/library/showpages/show_1070.html "The Rainmaker" at ThatTheatreSite] Provides character info, updated audition listings, and additional resources.