On September 24, 2014, the San Jose Mercury News (
visit link) reported the following story:
"'The Rainmaker' hopes to make a splash at San Jose Stage Company
By Crystal Chowcchow@community-newspapers.com
POSTED: 09/24/2014 06:04:42 PM
San Jose Stage Company's 32nd season opener is N. Richard Nash's "The Rainmaker," a story about finding love in a time of severe drought. Any connection to the valley's current climate crisis is mostly coincidental.
That's according to Randall King, co-founder and artistic director of the downtown company in the heart of the SoFA district, who was drawn to the play for more creative reasons. For starters, as a Burt Lancaster fan, King has long admired the 1956 film version of "Rainmaker," in which the studly actor plays Starbuck, a trickster who promises to bring on a crop-saving downpour if he's paid $100. Katharine Hepburn co-stars as Lizzie, a romance-starved spinster in an otherwise all-male household. Her father, H.C., is both eager to get his offspring wed and not averse to hiring the outwardly seeming charlatan.
"Personally I've always had a great attraction for this play," King says. "I've always looked at it from Starbuck's perspective: he's a liar and a con man but Lizzie's father and younger brother have faith in him."
The production is also in line with what the Stage Company likes to do, which is present great American works. "On the Waterfront," "Inherit the Wind" and "The Glass Menagerie" have all been seen at this popular off-Broadway theater.
"It was time to do this one, too," King says.
"The Rainmaker" will run Oct. 1-26 at the Stage, 490 S. First St., San Jose. It stars Stage vets Allison F. Rich ("Bonnie & Clyde," "The Threepenny Opera") as Lizzie and Johnny Moreno ("Threepenny Opera," "On the Waterfront") as Starbuck. The cast, which also includes Will Springhorn Jr., Brandon Leland, Joe Estlack, Michael Bellino and King himself, is directed by Jessa Brie Moreno.
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"The metaphor of the drought is national, global," King continues, alluding to the desperate search for human tenderness in "Rainmaker." "On a daily basis we get cheated and lied to. That affects our sense of camaraderie, of reaching out. We become protective.
"This story gives us a sense of rejuvenation, of not being afraid to take a leap of faith. That's why it's such a great piece; it's universal in that regard." The script, he says, "is like a piece of music, beautifully and delicately done."
If San Jose Stage Company were a musical composition, a lot of triumphal brass instrument or drum parts might be involved.
"We're doing really well," King says of the state of the Stage. "The last three or four seasons the audience has been growing, especially in the wake of the San Jose Rep's closing [earlier this year]. Our growth has been steady and strong."
So much so that the Stage is on target with plans to remodel its theater, looking to add about 150 more seats in the same configuration that puts patrons thisclose to the actors. Presently there is seating for 200. "We don't want to get so big that the place loses its intimacy," King cautions, noting that groundbreaking should take place within the next two or three years.
Until then, fans can look forward to more of the thoughtful fare for which the Stage is known. In fact, "Rainmaker" isn't the only offering this season from the canon of 20th-century American classics. Next spring the company will present "Death of a Salesman."
Tickets are $30 to $60 at thestage.org."