By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — Coming from the American heartland, I understand the importance of rain. Lack of it can drive up the cost of everything and destroy your livelihood. In the last drought, families gave up their belovèd horses for want of oats to feed them. Desperate times can lead folks to clutch at straws and make the promises of con-men ring like the bells of salvation. This is the setting of The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash now playing at the Globe through Aug 11, 2013.
The Rainmaker first appeared on Broadway in 1954, then became a film starring Burt Lancaster and Katherine Hepburn in ’56. The musical version, 110 Degrees in the Shade, debuted on Broadway in 1963.
Interestingly, playwright N. Richard Nash was born Nathaniel Richard Nusbaum in 1913. But in his day, Jews anglicized their names in order to break into the WASP-dominated world of Broadway. Artistic Director Barry Edelstein mentioned this in his talk with Pat Launer at the JCC, adding that in today’s Broadway, a waspy Richard Nash might want to change his name to Nathaniel Nusbaum.
Back to the play… The stage is bare except for a fence and the wheel of a windmill turning painfully slowly as the sun slowly creeps over the horizon. We are in middle America in the late 30’s. The Currys are a well-to-do family of ranchers. But in this drought, the cattle are dying, so their estate is likewise drying up.
Father Harry Curry (played by John Judd) owns the ranch while his elder son, Noah (Shakespearean actor, Peter Douglas) runs it and keeps the books. Prodigal younger son Jim (Broadway song and dance man, Kyle Harris) seems more interested in securing the “little red hat” of a local floozy than taking care of business.
Kyle Harris was instantly likable as Jim. His song and dance background made his body language very lively and fun to watch. The baby of the family, he’s a romantic and a dreamer, willing to beat Starbuck’s bass drum to bring on the rain.
The family also has the task of getting their sister Lizzie (Danielle Skraastad) married off. She’s a hard-worker and a good cook, but a bit too plain, earnest and book-smart for her own good. She knows a lot of things, but not how to hook herself a man.
Her brothers argue that she’s got to learn “how to get a fella the way a fella gets got.” And, “If it’s one thing that scares the hell out of a fella, it’s a serious-talkin’ girl.”
But she doesn’t want to hook a man through flattery and manipulation. She wants open and honest communication with a man who listens to and respects her. Is that so much to ask, even today?
Into the midst of both a personal and ecological crisis walks Starbuck (Gbenga Akinnagbe) a fast-talking traveling con-man who promises to make it rain for $100 –paid in advance. From the moment he enters, we know he’s a shyster. And yet his enthusiasm is so infectious that we fall for his charms.
Noah wants to show him the door but Harry –who has lost more in a poker game- is willing to take the bet. The hand he’s really betting on is not the rain but the chemistry he senses between Starbuck and Lizzie. This one-eyed Jack can see Lizzie’s beauty and show it to her.
I would call actor Danielle Skraastad more handsome than plain. And yet, what an eligible girl is “supposed to be” is “pretty”. When she does try to play the silly flirt, she’s so out of her element that she’s a riot. Her relationship with her father (John Judd) was genuinely loving. She doesn’t know how to manipulate a man because with him, she has never had to.
For all of Starbuck’s lies, he speaks the greatest truth in his love scene with Lizzie. “As long as one person thinks you’re beautiful, then you are.” And when she looks into his eyes, that’s the woman she sees.
Director Maria Mileaf made a risky choice in casting a black Starbuck. Knowing mid-western attitudes toward interracial relationships, I found it harder to suspend my disbelief. Such a pairing would have gotten a black man lynched in the 30s. Even in 2013, we can’t honestly say that race is a non-issue.
On a production note, some of the actors looked too much like … well, actors. Ranchers are not usually so clean-shaven with make up and heavily moussed hair. My guest the costume mistress had a lot to say about their attire, particularly the lines of modern undergarments showing through their period clothes and the lack of “hat etiquette” when entering rooms. These may be things only a period-maven notices, but attention to detail is the hallmark of craftsmanship.
Hats off to Scenic Designer, Neil Patel. Entire walls and set tables magically came up from the floor and floated down from the flies in seamless transitions. The elements were just enough give us that sense of time and place without being too busy.
Despite a few flaws, The Rainmaker is a worthwhile night at the theatre.
If you’ve ever been called “plain” or “too smart for your own good”…
If you’ve ever hated playing false when you wanted something real…
If you’ve ever seen your own beauty in someone else’s eyes…
then you’ll be drawn into the story of The Rainmaker now playing at the Globe.
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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in the arts. He may be contacted at eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com