January 18- February 3, 2001

Cast list

Starbuck --- Matt Heffron Lizzie --- Michelle Perez File -- Jan Dalton

Noah -- Ed Mulcahy HC -- Mike Carney Jim -- Rob Lombardo Sheriff -- Don Kuehlhorn

Journals
Reviews and misc.
More Pictures

Production Team

Journals, reviews and misc.

Don Kuehlhorn.

02/05/01

Show is over. The Stage is struck. We move on to another play. It is always a let down to finish a play. Whether I hate it or love it, I have a hole where the play used to be. It takes some time to get over the energy that performance gives me. All the mental processes that I go though to find character. Even a small part takes energy and time to play well. Then there are the other actors. No matter what you think of them during the rehearsal process and the performance you do build a relationship that is difficult to just drop at the end of the run. You have family, almost, that you leave only to develop new family in the next show. "The Rainmaker" is over but the next show is in rehearsal already! C'mon lets do some theater!

01/29/01
WARNING, this procedure could ruin relationships. Find a favorite story or joke that you like, then find your significant other. Tell the story/joke to him/her. Remember, during your telling, exactly the words and the emotions you used. The next day at roughly the same time find your significant other and tell the story/joke again. Use the same inflections and words that you used the day before. If you can do this for four days in a row take the next three days off and start the process again. The first thing you will note is your Other's reluctance to hear the same thing repeated in the same way over and over. The next thing you will notice is Your reluctance to repeat the same thing over and over. You will want to change something because down deep inside you know you have said this before. Actors battle this feeling every time they go on stage. They must say the same words in the same way. It is what they must do as actors. The saving grace to this is the audience. Unlike your significant other who can't get away, each night brings a fresh audience, anxious to hear the same thing the audiences before have heard. The challenge for the actors is to keep the words and action fresh, alive and the same for every audience. Try it. WARNING, the procedure could ruin relationships.

01/26/01
I have set my computer up back stage. You may wonder what we do back stage during a show. Hopefully you will find out.......
Hey what's this doing on?
Werd to Big Bird.

Jan Dalton.
It has been a lot of fun. However, I don't like all the sitting around.  I know there are no such things as no small roles blah blah blah but small parts mean waiting around and soon you lose concentration.  Good thing I brought the NY Times crossword puzzles.  They have saved the day.  Tell me when to go Don.  Now? NOW? NOW!!!

Hi.  This is Terry, the director.  Usually I sit in the booth or in the balcony to watch the show.  Tonight I'm sitting backstage.  Hey, someone has to finish the NY Times puzzle.  It's fun listening to the show over the monitors, it becomes a radio play.  And you get all the audience reaction--which has been one of my favorite parts of the show.  People seem to enjoy this from start to finish--and it's great to see the actors get the reaction they deserve.  Way to go, people!  Every single one of you gets laughs and emotional moments too.  You're super!
And to the readers of this who aren't involved in Rainmaker, get involved!  Head on down to City of Angels and see if they need backstage crew, or come on down to auditions for "Schoolhouse Rock" and see what fun in it is.

Hi.  My name is Rob Lombardo.  They told me to write about what goes on backstage during the show.  And I feel it incumbent upon me to come right out and say what *really* happens back here.  I'm not going to disguise or sugar-coat the events that actually transpire back here.  It's time for the world to know.  Are you ready?  Ok, here goes...WHAT REALLY ACTUALLY TRULY HAPPENS BACKSTAGE DURING THE SHOW IS THIS:

...nothing.  We sit around and wait for our cue to go back onstage.  Those of us who are able, work on the NY Times crossword, but I do not fall into that category.  So I tend to sit on the big green couch in a more-or-less-catatonic state, eating cheesy puffs.  If you are reading this and you happen to have some great ideas as to what could be done for fun back here, please come by and let us know.  I'm dyin' back here.  Peace out.

There you have it, live from back stage. It is nopt glamorous but it is part of what we do. I may have to set my computer up backstage again some time. 

01/22/01
Have you read the review yet? Very nice! The reviewer is a long time OTP member and has written many, many reviews. She has, also, directed and performed at OTP so she knows where of she writes. You could ask what good the review does? We have only one newspaper in town. We have only one year round community theater. What purpose then does the review serve? Well, for one, everyone likes to get their name and picture in the paper. Then they cut the article out and put it in their scrap book. Another reason maybe to give credit to the efforts of community volunteers to mount a production. Of course, it is good old advertising as well. Get the name out in the community and people may decide to "go see a play." All the reviews I have read in my time here have been positive. I have heard that, before my time, some reviews would rip a production apart. Fortunately, I have not had the pleasure of such a review. I think the reviewer has to take in the fact that all the people concerned in any theatrical production have 9-5 jobs and many have families. They carve out the time to memorize lines and construct and present a play. It is a hobby, much like skiing or model railroading. Of course, unlike the two just mentioned, the participants must accomplish their task in a timely fashion.  How can a thinking person not give a positive review to people working for the love of it? Some reviews are better than others. That is appropriate since some plays are better than others. We got a good one and we deserve it. Have you read the review yet?

01/19/01
We finally opened! I have, as a I have said, a small role in this production. Still, as I waited for my first entrance, I found that I had forgotten my first line...and my second! It is an amazing thing this theater business. You work hard to memorize lines, prepare a character, imagine the stage is your home, and you get comfortable with the whole affair. Then opening night and all is lost. At least, lost for the initial move from back stage to full light. It is the audience, of course. They sit out there, not criticizing, just waiting to be entertained. I stand back stage hoping that I do entertain them and that I don't disappoint. At that moment, I realize I have two options. Option one is to run away, far away, fast. I don't, of course. Option two is get scared, feel my heart racing, my blood throbbing in my evermore visible temples, my adrenalin flowing like a gusher and then, on cue, I break curtain. That rush, that thrill of failure and then the success of performing and the applause I receive is the narcotic that brings me back to do the stage over and over again. I have this fear every opening and, sometimes, every performance. It is great! I had the fear tonight. We finally opened!    

01/16/01
Dress rehearsal is all we have left before opening the show. While everyone does community theater different (they think they have a better mousetrap), the fact remains that all the audiences should see the same show. We rehearse to see what looks good and feels good. We change a stage motion here and a piece of furniture there. We adjust lighting and sound levels as needed.  By opening night all the changes should have been made. This is part of a pact between the production and the audience. What you see the first night you will see the last night, no changes. Aside from the human factor, that makes live theater different from and better than a movie, the dress rehearsal is the last opportunity to effect changes in the show. Opening night is one last chance to get it right from now! 

01/11/01
Tonight I am writing this from backstage. This is a full run through with costumes, lights..the works. We have had some problems this week. Michelle had slipped last week on some ice and bruised her back. Rob was out for several days with the flu. Good thing we have worked hard to get off book. While Michelle and Rob were off I read book and the the cast made up new blocking. What would happen if this situation arose during the run? We would find someone to read book on stage and perform the play anyway. The life blood of the theater is performance. We have an audience that pays and bills to pay. Any show will be preferable to a dark night. We have had two performances that I know in my 12 years experience that needed someone else. I just hope I don't see it again. Quiet back stage rehearsal has begun!

01/08/01
This is the beginning of the end. We have 10 days left before we open. What do we have to finish in that time? Well, the set for one. Both cast and crew have hammered and sawn and painted our set to make it the kind of place The Curry's would want to come home to. Also, the kind of place the audience would believe the Curry's would want to come home to. We have some finishing touches, however the place looks good. we have the script well in hand. We need only to rehearse more to solidify the blocking and character interactions. One might ask when will we have enough rehearsal for that? The simple answer is , never! If we had 20 weeks to do this play we would all want 21! We can perform the show now and we will perform it in 10 days.   Yet the process of acting demands that we work to perfect the presentation continually. Our performance rests solely on our preparation. Something that continues until the fall of closing night curtain. So, maybe, the beginning of the end is really the rise if the curtain on closing night! 

01/04/01
The playhouse just gets busier and busier. Last night we returned to rehearsal. It went well enough but the second act had a noticeable drop in energy. We struggled but managed to get through it. Our struggle wasn't helped by the fact the the orchestra for "City of Angels" was rehearsing across the hall. Every now and then the orchestra would get exuberant about a musical passage and the sound would fill the stage where we rehearse. It causes a problem with concentration. You would think this would help us concentrate but we are shaky on the second act so it only hurts. The orchestra couldn't rehearse down stairs because the quartet was down there. They couldn't use the Studio Theater because we have "Marigolds..." rehearsing there! We will work this out, of course, however the playhouse is still busy. 

01/02/01
Started rehearsals again last night. We ran the first act. It seems the holiday vacation didn't affect the process one bit. In fact, the cast came back stronger and better prepared than one might expect. Except for the odd line that is forgotten while trying to remember the blocking, we are off book in the first act. I shouldn't be surprised by this. We have a hardworking cast but it is a surprise. Community theater offers a myriad of performers. We got some good ones. Second act tonight. I am confident we are off book as well for this act. We read a book left to right, front to back. Usually we know the first part of the script better than the last because we have to read through first part always to get to the second half. Tonight's rehearsal may be a little rough for that reason. But we are back in harness and have less than two weeks to go. Rehearsals have started again.

12/29
We have been off for the past week plus now. It doesn't bother me since my role is too small to forget (not complaining, just the facts). The actors are required to help with set construction. We, usually, attend the Strike which consists of clearing the set from the stage after the production but it is not always the case to help construct. In other theater groups I have been part of, we did it all construction, house cleaning, light setting, the works. At OTP, we have the luxury of many volunteers. This fact means that many of the functions of putting a show together can be split between various groups. The actors can perceive themselves to be above the manual labor of production. Not this show. We are going to help construct and set the show. I have some tasks, such as vacuuming the auditorium, that I will suggest as well. It is good to get back to what community theater is all about. It will be hard, though, to get back after a week plus off.

12/18
I have not much to write about of  late. We are in the middle of rehearsals. All of us are trying to get of book and doing very well. Our slot in the season has us looking at something no other cast sees. The holidays are upon us and we will get a break from rehearsals. This is not as good a thing as it sounds. We work to get a rhythm of a scene then, with the break, we have to start all over again. This just makes the process longer and we don't get longer. However, we have a good cast, hard working. When we get back to work we will have two weeks to go! Happy Holidays! 

12/11
Finally got back to rehearsal after a week off! We have blocked the first two acts. However , it is difficult to move on a stage that doesn't have your furniture on it.   We have to wait another week until the Christmas show has played then the stage is completely ours until the end of our run. WSS has closed and the set is struck, so now we can put furniture on stage and work with blocking. This will aid the development of character. It is reassuring that the cast is working diligently to get off book. We, all, know that the sooner the book is out of the way, the sooner the character emerges. 

12/05
The good news about having a small role in a play is that you have a lot of time off between rehearsals. I am , also, off book since i have so little book to read. The bad thing about having a small part is that i don't do much. I like doing much. It makes me feel alive and worthy. This not doing much is for someone else. However, i accepted the role and i will make what i can of it. The quote goes something like, "there are no small roles only small actors". I beg to differ.

....11/30
Started the work part of the show. This is the sit and wait portion. When i am on stage i don't want off, when i am off stage everything is lousy until i get back on stage. It is a actor thing. We have a good cast and crew so far. We will need it since our rehearsal schedule is made goofy by the holidays, the current mainstage show and the rehearsals for the other shows soon to be cast. This show will take a lot of independent effort since we won't have the usual time together. more later.

The Rainmaker' shines on playhouse stage
Nancy Sundstrum, Record-eagle Jan. 22, 2001

As a welcome break from these long, dreary months of winter, Old Town Playhouse (OTP) is transporting its audiences to a drought-laden, small southwestern town where the temperature is in triple digits and passions are running just about as high.

The play is N. Richard Nash’s timeless romantic comedy, "The Rainmaker," which is well-known to classic film fans for its 1956 adaptation with Burt Lancaster and Katherine Hepburn. Here, the smooth direction by Terry Lawrence and the fine performances by a first-rate ensemble find all the colors of this charming piece, confirming why it is still studied in classrooms and remains a staple in theatres all across the country.

The centerpiece of "The Rainmaker" is a drought which is preoccupying the tight-knit Curry family, circa Depression era, and threatening their livelihood of raising cattle. The absence of rain is also a metaphor for the lack of male callers for the only woman in the house, Lizzie (Michelle Perez).

The fear of seeing her become an "old maid" is enough to prompt her father, H.C. (Mike Carney) and her two brothers, Noah and Jimmy, played by Ed Mulcahy and Robert Lombardo, respectively, into action. They set their sights on local Deputy File (Jan Dalton), a man who seems to have an emotional reserve as hard to break through as Lizzie’s, but with disastrous results.

A distraction from the comedy of errors they’ve created comes in the unexpected presence of a charismatic con man (Matt Heffron) named Starbuck, a "rainmaker" who offers to work miracles on both the weather and Lizzie, whose life is truly at a crossroads. His time to do so is limited, though, because Sheriff Thomas (Don Kuehlhorn) is in close pursuit.

It’s a premise rich with comedic possibilities and poignant moments, and Lawrence and cast handle the balance confidently, creating characters we care about, building tension with control, and handling the humor with subtlety.

As Lizzie, the attractive Perez manages to convince us that she is as plain as she is plain-spoken, and we revel in her character finding a new appreciation for herself. Her Lizzie is a woman about to awaken from a long slumber, and her joy in discovering what she is and wants for herself is something of a revelation. She doesn’t so much play Lizzie as she inhabits her, and she has real chemistry with her two potential suitors, Starbuck and File, which starts out at simmer and builds to some real flame.

Heffron is back on the OTP stage after an eight-year absence, and it’s a welcome return. He is an energetic, graceful actor who effectively presents Starbuck as a dreamer who can’t stop his grandiose notions, even when he knows they have no chance of coming true. OTP veteran Dalton, who is always a pleasure to watch, again demonstrates his versatility with his portrayal of the tightly-wound File.

As Lizzie’s brothers, Mulcahy and Lombardo work well in tandem with each other. Mulcahy, who has quickly built a name for himself at OTP, plays the hard-headed pragmatic Noah who wants his family to stop pretending that things are ever going to change for Lizzie, and it’s a credit to his performance that he makes the audience understand the motives of a rather unsympathetic character.

Lombardo is a scene-stealing young actor who was the clear favorite with the opening night crowd on Thursday. He brings a goofy charm to Jimmy that makes him absolutely irresistible, and whether he’s noshing on a piece of sausage or recounting the highlights of a date, he’s hard to take your eyes away from. One hopes he doesn’t change a note along the course of the show’s run because he is so totally on the money, and that we’ll see more from him in the years to come.

Rounding out the cast are Carney and Kuehlhorn, two other OTP vets who bring good sensibilities and a light touch to the comedy in the play.

The technical credits are solid, including Lawrence’s efficient set design, Cinder Conlon’s nicely executed lighting, Gary Bolton’s sound (which includes a soundtrack that gives the play a filmic quality), Kathy Verstraete’s costumes, and Jeanne Ramick’s set dressings.

"The Rainmaker" runs Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. through February 3, 2001, with a 3:00 p.m. Sunday matinee on January 28. Tickets are $13, and student and senior tickets are $11 for Thursday performances only. Reservations can be made by calling 947-2443 or at the OTP Box Office at Eighth and Cass Streets from 4:00-8:00 p.m. Monday-Friday, as well as two hours prior to show times on the weekends.

OTP forecasts crowd-pleaser in "The Rainmaker"
By MIKE NORTON Record-Eagle staff writer , Jan 12, 2001
TRAVERSE CITY- Appropriately, there was plenty of precipitation on the night of Nov. 21, when the Old Town Playhouse held auditions for ' The Rainmaker.
    But this is northern Michigan, so it was snow, not rain that fell - and lots of it. For a time, director Terry Lawrence was even thinking of calling off the tryouts - but she didn't, and she's glad she didn't. 
    "Only 20 people showed up that night because of the blizzard, and a few more came in the next night, but there was so much depth in the people that came,"  she said. "I had so many great candidates that if my first picks had all turned me down I could have cast the show with all my second choices and it would still have been great! "  
    Of course, N. Richard Nash's heartwarming dramatic comedy has a very small cast to begin with - seven, all told and it is an ensemble show par excellence. Which is fortunate, because the cast and crew of "Rainmaker" have had to take a weeklong holiday break smack dab in the middle of their rehearsal schedule. and that's not always a comfortable thing for theater folk to do. 
    "This is not as good a thing as it sounds." writes cast member Don Kuehlhorn, who plays the sheriff, and has been keeping a rehearsal journal for the Playhouse. " We work to get a rhythm of a scene. Then, with the break, we have to start all over again. This just makes the process longer and we don't get longer." 
    Lawrence wasn't worried. She has a lot of faith in this cast.
     "They're all veterans, and they're all  hard workers, and they'll pick it up again in no time." she said.
    "The Rainmaker,"' which opens Thursday, Jan 18, was first produced in 1954 and is not to be confused with the John Grisham novel and film of the same name. It did inspire a film version starring, Burt Lancaster arid Katharine Hepburn, as well as a less successful Broadway musical Called "110 in the Shade." More recently, it was revived on Broadway with Woody Harrelson and Jayne Atkinson in the starring roles.
     The play is set in the American Southwest in 1936, a year of devastating drought. On the H.C. Curry farm, a father and two brothers are worried as much about their sister becoming an old maid as they are about their dying cattle. (The metaphor of dryness and sterility is none too subtle here.) 
    But in spite of their efforts, there is nothing to be done about the drought, or about sister Lizzie, until the arrival of brash smoothtalking dreamer Bill Starbuck. He claims to be able to bring rain and gradually convinces the "plain" Lizzie that she is indeed beautiful.
    In the OTP production, the roles of Starbuck and Lizzie are taken by Matt Heffron and Michelle Perez. H.C. is played by Mike Carney, while brothers Noah and Jim are played by Ed Mulcahy and Rob Lombardo. Jan Dalton plays Lizzie's suitor, File. 
    Lawrence admits she had some reservations about "The Rainmaker.'' One was the challenge of bringing off a play in the wake of a film version as memorable as the Lancaster-Hepburn collaboration. She hasn't seen the movie in years, and hasn't exactly encouraged the cast to see it for themselves. But it's hard to forget the vivid impression left by two such charismatic actors. 
    Her other reservation was whether the play's characterization of Lizzie's barren spinsterhood and its elevation of marriage to a state of almost celestial bliss might offend ears conditioned by three decades of feminism. To her relief, she found "The Rainmaker's" message not nearly as dated as she had feared. 
    "The whole theme isn't that you deny who you are, or that you have to change yourself to got a man," she said. "It's that you've got to be yourself and live your life. I'm actually amazed at how well it all holds up."
     Since the play has a small cast, there's a good deal of room for individual actors to explore the emotional range of their characters, both in the dynamics of the Curry family and in interactions with strangers who come to their farm. 
    Oh. and Lawrence promises real rain, too. 
    "Not a deluge," she said. "Just a little sprinkle, like you get at the beginning of a good hard rain."
 Performances of "The Rainmaker" will be Jan. 13-20, Jan 25-28. and Feb. 1-3. Tickets are now on sale. For reservations and ticket information, contact the Old Town Playhouse boxoffice, 947-2443, between 4& 8 pm.

THE RAINMAKER TICKETS ON SALE

Show Opens Thursday, January 18, Runs through February 3

            TRAVERSE CITY --- Tickets for the Old Town Playhouse mainstage production of The Rainmaker are on sale beginning Monday, January 8, 2001 through the show’s conclusion on Saturday, February 3, 2001.  The play opens Thursday, January 18, at Old Town Playhouse

A romantic comedy, The Rainmaker features the story of a family who struggle to combat two droughts – the first, a lack of rain which threatens their cattle; and the second, a lack of male callers which threatens to make their sister an old maid.  Enter the “rainmaker” whose quick tongue and grandiose notions promise to end both droughts.             

The Rainmaker is directed by Terry Lawrence of Traverse City.  The cast includes Michelle Perez as Lizzie and Matthew Heffron as Starbuck.  Other cast members include Mike Carney, Jan Dalton, Don Kuehlhorn, Robert Lombardo and Ed Mulcahy.

The show runs January 18 – February 3, 2001.  Show times are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.  A Sunday matinee will be staged on January 28 at 3 p.m.  Tickets are $13.  Student and Senior rate tickets are available for $11 for Thursday performances.  Reservations can be made by calling (231) 947-2443 or visiting the Old Town Playhouse Box Office located at 128 East Eighth Street at Cass in Traverse City.  Box office hours are 4-8 p.m., Mondays through Fridays through the run of the show as well as two hours prior to show times the weekends.

            For more information, contact the Old Town Playhouse business office at (231) 947-2210.