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Palm Beach Dramaworks
announces
Additional Performances
of
110 in
the Shade
Music by Harvey Schmidt, Lyrics by Tom Jones,
Book by N. Richard Nash
Based on his play, The Rainmaker
In Concert through August 30
at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre
Starring Jessica Hershberg, William Parry, and Cooper Grodin
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Thanks to rave reviews and nightly standing ovations, Palm Beach Dramaworks has extended the run of 110 in the Shade, a moving, evocative musical about desperation and desire with music by Harvey Schmidt, lyrics by Tom Jones, and a book by N. Richard Nash based on his play The Rainmaker. Originally scheduled to close on Sunday, August 23, the concert production will now continue at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre through Sunday, August 30.
Three performances have been added, with the possibility of more. Tickets are now on sale for Friday (August 28) and Saturday (August 29) at 8pm, and Sunday (August 30) at 2pm. All seats are $42.00. To access the most up-to-date schedule and order tickets, call the box office at (561) 514-4042 or visit the theatre's website, www.palmbeachdramaworks.org, where 24-hour ticketing is available.
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110 in
the Shade
takes place in a sun-baked, Southwestern town in the 1930s, where the local populace is desperately in need of relief from a drought, and a lonely young woman named Lizzie Curry is terrified that she's going to wind up, as one of the songs goes, an "Old Maid." Enter Starbuck, a charismatic con man and self-proclaimed rainmaker, who convinces the townspeople that he can make the skies open within 24 hours, and enables Lizzie to see herself in a new light.
PBD's production is directed by Clive Cholerton and choreographed by Michelle Petrucci. Musical direction is by Howard Breitbart. Heading the cast are Jessica Hershberg, last season's Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella, as Lizzie; William Parry, who had the title role in the 2014 concert production of Zorba!, as Lizzie's father, H.C. Curry; Cooper Grodin, who recently played the title role in a national tour of Phantom of the Opera, as Starbuck; and Shane R.Tanner, Herman in Fella, as File, the emotionally damaged sheriff who is in love with Lizzie. The production also features Clay Cartland, Nick Duckart, Stephanie White, Lauren Bell, Nikki Allred Boyd, Chris Brand, Alex Jorth, and Matthew Korinko. Scenic design is by Dustin Hamilton, costume design is by Linda C. Shorrock, lighting design is by Tom Shorrock, and sound design is by Richard Szczublewski.
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It was Nash who approached Schmidt and Jones, composer and lyricist of The Fantasticks, about the possibility of making a musical version of The Rainmaker. The play opened on Broadway in 1954 with Geraldine Page as Lizzie and Darren McGavin as Starbuck, and was made into a film two years later with Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster assuming those roles. Both Schmidt and Jones were fans of the piece, and were happy to sign on.
110 in
the Shade
opened on Broadway on October 23,1963, and ran for 330 performances. An intimate musical with a haunting score, the show did not receive its due during its initial run. But subsequent productions - at New York City Opera in 1992, Virginia's Signature Theatre in 2003, and a 2007 Broadway revival starring Audra McDonald - have burnished the show's reputation, and revealed it to be a jewel of a musical.
All musical concerts are performed with limited instrumental accompaniment and minimal staging and design. These full-length presentations include both the score and the book.
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Palm Beach Dramaworks is a non-profit, professional theatre and is a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the South Florida Theatre League, Southeastern Theatre Conference, Florida Professional Theatres Association, Florida Theatre Conference, and the Palm Beach County Cultural Council.
The Don & Ann Brown Theatre is located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, at 201 Clematis Street.
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(note: two photographers)
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Related Links: www.palmbeachdramaworks.org |
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Palm Beach Dramaworks - 201 Clematis Street West Palm Beach FL 33401 - 561.514.4042
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