110 in the Shade

Music by Harvey Schmidt
Lyrics by Tom Jones
Book by N. Richard Nash
Based on the play The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash

Broadway:
Opened October 24, 1963
Closed August 9, 1964 (330 performances)
Revival Opened May 9, 2007
Revival Closed July 29, 2007 (94 performances)

Original Broadway Cast: Inga Swenson (Lizzie), Will Geer (H.C.), Robert Horton (Starbuck), Steve Roland (Noah), Lesley Ann Warren (Snookie), Stephen Douglass (File), and Scooter Teague (Jimmy); Directed by Joseph Anthony; Choreographed by Agnes DeMille; Musical Direction by Donald Pippin; Scenic Design by Oliver Smith; Costume Design by Motley; Lighting Design by John Harvey; Produced by David Merrick; Played at the Broadhurst Theatre

Revival Cast: Audra McDonald (Lizzie), John Cullum (H.C.), Steve Kazee (Starbuck), Chris Butler (Noah), Carla Duren (Snookie), Christopher Innvar (File) and Bobby Steggert (Jimmy); Directed by Lonny Price; Choreographed by Dan Knechtges; Musical Direction by Paul Gemignani; Scenic Design and Costume Design by Santo Loquasto; Lighting Design by Christopher Akerlind; Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company; Played at Studio 54

Songs include: "Gonna Be Another Hot Day," "Lizzie's Comin' Home," "Love, Don't Turn Away," "Poker Polka," "Hungry Men," "Rain Song," "You're Not Foolin' Me," "Raunchy," "A Man and a Woman," "Old Maid," "Everything Beautiful Happens at Night," "Melisande," "Simple Little Things," "Little Red Hat," "Is It Really Me?," and "Wonderful Music/ Rain Song Finale."

110 in the Shade was the first Broadway musical from the songwriting team of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, who had just scored the most successful Off-Broadway musical of all time, The Fantasticks. Adapted by N. Richard Nash from his own play The Rainmaker, it tells the story of the people in a small Southern town during a particularly hot drought. Lizzie Curry is a woman whose strong will has kept her from marrying one of the conservative men in her town. She is returning home from a visit to her relatives, and her return coincides with the arrival of Bill Starbuck, a smooth conman who claims to be a rainmaker. Starbuck preys on the rain-starved townspeople, and manages to get one hundred dollars from Lizzie's father. Despite the fact that she realizes he's a fraud, she finds herself strangely attracted to him. She is also being pressured from her father and brothers to pursue File, the town sheriff.

I listened to the Original Broadway Cast album for the show. The music is definitely reminiscent of The Fantasticks, particularly "Melisande," a song Starbuck sings to Lizzie relating a medieval epic story. It has the sort of fanciful quality that is familiar to fans of Schmidt and Jones's earlier musical, but it is without a signature song like "Try to Remember." The songs aren't bad, but none of them are particularly good, either. I listened to it immediately before I started typing this post, and I'm already having trouble remembering the melodies. "The Rain Song" is a standout, as it sounds like it would allow the actor playing Starbuck some really interesting and energetic moments. The show's close to forgotten today, and would be totally forgotten if not for the short-lived, but critically acclaimed revival in 2007. I'd recommend giving the album a listen if you have an hour to kill sometime, but I wouldn't go too far out of your way to hear it. Well, that's it for the first post here. This is pretty much how they're going to be, short and sweet, but I can't promise I won't go off on some shows I feel particularly strongly about. Next up will be Jason Robert Brown's 13.