Roundabout Theatre Company announced the full cast for its Lonny Price staging of the Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones and N. Richard Nash musical. Previews begin April 13 toward a May 9 opening, for a limited run at Studio 54 through July 15.
Broadway newcomer Butler (Yellowman - L.A. Ovation Award), Duren (Hairspray Las Vegas) and Broadway veterans Innvar (Les Miserables) and Steggert (Master Harold…and the boys) will be featured with previously announced stars Kazee (Spamalot) and Tony Award winners McDonald and Cullum.
The ensemble will also include Elisa Van Duyne, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Valisia Lekae Little, Darius Nichols, Mamie Parris, Devin Richards, Michael Scott, Will Swenson, Matt Wall and Betsy Wolfe.
110 in the Shade is a musical take on Nash's play The Rainmaker by the team that created The Fantasticks. As production notes reveal, "The mercurial Starbuck (Kazee) promises rain for a drought-stricken town and passion for the stalwart but resigned Lizzie (McDonald)." Cullum will play the role of patriarch H. C. Curry.
Broadway veteran Cullum — who recently appeared in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas — was last seen at the Roundabout in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. He earned Tony Awards for his turns in On the Twentieth Century and Shenandoah. He last appeared on Broadway in Urinetown and has previously played in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Camelot, 1776, Doubles, Old Money, The Boys in Autumn, The Trip Back Down, Man of La Mancha and Show Boat. McDonald has appeared on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun, Ragtime, Master Class and Carousel to Tony-winning success. Other Broadway credits for the actress-singer include Henry IV, Marie Christine and The Secret Garden.
Dan Knechtges will provide choreography and Paul Gemignani serves as musical director. Orchestrations are by Jonathan Tunick. The design team features Santo Loquasto (sets and costumes), Christopher Akerlind (lighting) and Dan Moses Schreier (sound).
The musical made its Broadway premiere Oct. 24, 1963 at the Broadhurst Theatre starring Inga Swenson and Will Geer under the direction of Joseph Anthony — all three were Tony Award-nominated for their work as were Schmidt and Jones. The Roundabout incidentally revived the musical's source material The Rainmaker in 1999 starring Woody Harrelson and Jayne Atkinson.
Tickets are on sale at the Studio 54 Box Office, 254 West 54th Street, by phone at (212) 719-1300 or online at roundabouttheatre.org.
