Steady Rain Adds Final Benefit Performance

By Andrew Gans
November 18, 2009

The producers of the limited Broadway engagement of A Steady Rain have added one additional show, to play the final day of the run on Dec. 6.

At the request of co-stars Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, a 7 PM performance on Dec. 6 will benefit New Yorkers For Children and the NYCPBA Widows & Children's Fund.

Tickets for this additional performance are now available for purchase exclusively through NYFC by calling (646) 257-2927. These tickets are priced $500 for Premium Orchestra seats and $250 for Preferred Orchestra and Front-Row Mezzanine seats, of which $140 per ticket is non-tax deductible.

Beginning Nov. 20 at 9 AM, the remaining tickets for this final performance will also be available via Telecharge and the Gerald Schoenfeld box office (ranging $66.50-$140).

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Tony Award nominee John Crowley (The Pillowman) directs. Craig plays even-tempered Joey with Jackman as hot-headed Denny, who explain the texture of their long-time friendship, and the violent recent events — personal and professional — that threaten to destroy it. Understudies are C.J. Wilson (for Joey) and Danny Mastrogiorgio (for Denny).

The intermissionless A Steady Rain, according to the producers, "is a new American play that tells the story of two Chicago cops who are lifelong friends and their differing accounts of a few harrowing days that changed their lives forever." According to the Playbill, the drama is set in Chicago in "the not-too-distant past."

The stark production features set and costume design by two-time Tony Award winner Scott Pask, lighting design by two-time Tony Award nominee Hugh Vanstone and original music and sound design by Mark Bennett. Michael J. Passaro is production stage manager.

A Steady Rain was first produced in 2006 at New York Stage and Film's Powerhouse Theater. It had its professional world premiere in 2007 at Chicago Dramatists and was remounted in February 2008 at Chicago's Royal George Theatre winning Jefferson Awards for Best New Work and Best Production.

A Steady Rain marks the Broadway debut of Craig, known as the latest James Bond in the famed film series. In London he has worked with the Royal National Theatre (Angels in America), the Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic (Hurlyburly), and he was nominated for a 2002 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Number at the Royal Court Theatre. His film credits include "Defiance," "Quantum of Solace," "Flashbacks of a Fool," "The Golden Compass," "The Invasion," "Casino Royale," "Infamous" and "Renaissance," among others.

Jackman, who was recently seen on screen in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," earned a Tony Award for his work in the Broadway musical The Boy From Oz. He is also known for his film roles in the "X-Men" trilogy, "Someone Like You," "Swordfish," "Kate and Leopold," "Van Helsing" and the recent "The Fountain" and "Happy Feet" (in voice). His stage credits also include Trevor Nunn's staging of Oklahoma! at Britian's National Theatre and award-winning work in productions of Sunset Boulevard and Beauty and the Beast in his homeland.

Playwright Huff is also the author of Pursued by Happiness, Gray City and The Bird and Mr. Banks. His recently completed works include The Detective's Wife and Tell Us of the Night, which round out a trilogy of Chicago cop plays that began with A Steady Rain.

Rain is produced on Broadway by Frederick Zollo, Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, Raymond L. Gaspard, Frank Gero, Cheryl Wiesenfeld, Jeffrey Sine, Michael Rose Ltd, The Shubert Organization Inc. and Robert Cole.

Show times are Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday-Saturday at 8 PM with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM and Sunday at 3 PM.

The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is located in Manhattan at 236 West 45th Street.

For more information visit www.asteadyrain.com.