Day, Laurence, Wood to Star in The Rainmaker at Arena Stage

Johanna Day, Michael Laurence, and Frank Wood head the cast of the Arena Stage production of N. Richard Nash’s drama The Rainmaker, set to run March 3-April 9.

First presented on Broadway in 1954 with a cast headed by Geraldine Page, The Rainmaker focuses on Lizzie Curry, an “old maid” who succumbs to the charms of Bill Starbuck, a stranger in town who claims that he can solve the area’s drought. The play was filmed in 1956 with Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster, and was revived on Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company in 1999 with Jayne Atkinson and Woody Harrelson. It also served as the basis for the musical 110 in the Shade.

Day, who will play Lizzie, received a Tony Award nomination for her role in Proof. Laurence, who will play Starbuck, has appeared Off-Broadway in Book of Days and Edward II and in the film The Operator. Wood, who will play Sheriff File, won a Tony Award for Side Man and was last seen on Broadway in Hollywood Arms.

The Arena Stage production will be directed by Lisa Peterson. Also in the cast are Ben Fox and Jesse Hooker (who will alternate in the role of Jim Curry), William Parry (H.C. Curry), Delaney Williams (Sheriff Thomas), and Graham Winton (Noah Curry). The creative team includes Michael Yeargan (set design), Ilona Somogyi (costume design), James F. Ingalls (lighting design), and Mark Bennett (sound design and original music).