Last night, Asha and I went to see 110 In The Shade, the Roundabout Theater's revival of this somewhat dated musical starring the lovely Audra McDonald and the dashing John Cullum. This show, with music and lyrics by Tom Jones (no, not that Tom Jones) and Harvey Schmidt, is based on The Rainmaker, a book by N. Richard Nash. If you're looking for a fun campy show, look no further. The story is simple..."In the middle of a heat wave in 1930's Texas, when everyone is longing for rain, or a breeze, Lizzie Curry (McDonald) is on the verge of becoming a hopeless old maid. Her wit, intelligence and skills as a homemaker can't make up for the fact that she can't find true love. Even the town sheriff, for whom she harbors a secret yen, won't take a chance. However, when a charismatic rainmaker named Starbuck (Kazee) enters the town and her family's life, Lizzie's world is turned upside down" (Roundabout Theater Website. Starbuck claims he can make it rain. Is he telling the truth? Can he indeed make it precipitate? Will it rain? Yes, yes it will, and the rain will get a lot of applause. Most of the dialogue is very cheesy but one has to expect this going in. Audra McDonald is simply amazing and her voice is just so pleasurable to listen to. The other leads couldn't compare and I was shocked that at many points during the show, many of them sang noticably off key.
Today is Strawberry Fest at NYU which means free strawberries, strawberry shortcake, ice cream, popcorn, cotton candy, toothache....
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