THEATER REVIEW : ‘Rainmaker’ Conjures Era of Imagination, Dreams

We tend to love the con man, especially the traveling kind. Take Bill Starbuck. He strolls onto the drought-plagued Curry farm, spouts off like a Pentecostal preacher and promises he can bring rain in 24 hours. Nobody really buys his yarn in “The Rainmaker,” N. Richard Nash’s play that opened last weekend in a wobbly production at the Ensemble Theatre, but they’re willing to take a chance.

For $100, they’ll listen to his banter and bragging, his dreams and delights. Starbuck may not be able to bring rain, but he is pretty good at bringing a little excitement into the Currys’ dull lives. He’s especially good at juicing up Lizzie, the plain daughter resigned to spinsterhood. Her happy-ending evolution into an assured woman with options, including marriage, is gussied up like a gift from Hollywood.

“The Rainmaker” was popular when it premiered in New York City in 1954; a film two years later, with Burt Lancaster in one of his more flamboyant roles as Starbuck, was also a success. These days, though, Nash’s play can come across as a stagy bucket of corn, all melodrama and sentiment.

Its lessons--that it’s important to have dreams, and that the imagination is a world unto itself--are good ones, but Nash certainly doesn’t offer them subtly. And women will probably cringe at Lizzie’s predicament: Her ordinary looks (not-so-pretty face, bulky bod) are what everybody keeps fretting over. All the men agree that she does have her talents, however--she’s a great cook and housekeeper.

Oh well, it was a different time, and the play may be appreciated by some as a period piece. Director Herman Boodman clearly is aware that the story takes place at the turn of the century. With the help of set designer David Billman (who plays Starbuck) and costumer Andrew Otaro, he has given the small theater’s stage an authentic, rough-hewn appearance.

*

Performances are uneven, but Rhesa Casaday stands out as Lizzie, conveying self-awareness of the character’s handicaps and what they mean to her future, and the well of inner strength that lets the audience know that Lizzie can overcome any problems that pop up.

Casaday is fairly restrained, something that can’t be said of Billman. His scenery-gobbling moves as Starbuck actually are sort of fun; you can’t help but like his brashness, his bellowing voice, his king-size visions of what life can be. But there’s something missing in the characterization. Billman just isn’t persuasive enough. He has style, but too little charisma.

* “The Rainmaker,” Ensemble Theatre, Olive Heights Center, 844 E. Lincoln Ave., Orange. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends March 19. $8-$15. (714) 998-2199. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. Rhesa Casaday Lizzie Curry

David Billman: Bill Starbuck

Tony Grande: Noah Curry

James M. Dolan: H.C. Curry

Mikel Mansour: Jim Curry

Glenn Hoeffner: File

An Eastern Boys Productions production of N. Richard Nash’s play, directed by Herman Boodman. Set design by David Billman. Costumes by Andrew Otaro. Stage manager: Jim Mongell.