Tony Tuesday: 110 IN THE SHADE

Besties, after a slight hiatus, TONY Tuesday is back, and this week, it’s: 

‘Raunchy’ from 110 in the Shade at the 2007 TONY Awards Ceremony.

110 in the Shade is based on N. Richard Nash’s play The Rainmaker and features a book by Nash, music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. The musical, set in 1936, centres on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American Southwest, and her relationships with local sheriff File, a cautious divorcé who fears being hurt again, and charismatic con man Bill Starbuck, posing as a rainmaker who promises the locals he can bring relief to the drought-stricken area. 

The musical was Jones and Schmidt’s first project for Broadway, following the success of their previous work, The Fantasticks. The original score was practically operatic in scope and had to be cut down massively after the run time proved too long, resulting in the team discarding almost as many numbers as were heard in the final production. After two previews, the show (directed by Joseph Anthony and choreographed by Agnes de Mille) opened on 24 October 1963 at the Broadhurst Theatre, where it ran for 330 performances.

The original cast included Robert Horton as Starbuck, Inga Swenson as Lizzie, and Stephen Douglass as File, with Will Geer, Lesley Ann Warren, and Gretchen Cryer in supporting roles. Sets were by Oliver Smith and costumes by Motley. The show received four TONY Award nominations, but won none. An original Broadway cast recording was released on 3 November 1963, with one recording in stereo and one in mono. In 1990, the recording was also released on CD, with an additional track, ‘Overture’, not included in the LP recordings. 

The first and only West End production, directed by Charles Blackwell, recreated the original Broadway production closely, opening on 8 February 1967 at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 101 performances. 

A 1992 production by New York City Opera, starring Karen Ziemba as Lizzie, directed by Scott Ellis and choreographed by Susan Stroman, allowed the score to be heard to particular advantage as the opera company orchestra was considerably larger than the traditional Broadway pit orchestra.  A studio recording, based on this production, was released in 1997, which featured Ziemba, Walter Charles, Ron Raines, Kristin Chenoweth, and Schmidt and Jones. This included five bonus tracks from the New York City Opera production.

In 1999, a concert version was staged at the Fortune Theatre in London by Ian Marshall Fisher for the Discovering Lost Musicals Charitable Trust, starring Louise Gold as Lizzie. For this production, only a piano accompaniment was used, and the cast was unmiked.

In 2007, the Roundabout Theatre Company presented a new Broadway revival of the show, which opened on 9 May at Studio 54 and closed on 29 July of the same year, after 93 performances and 27 previews. The production team featured director Lonny Price and designer Santo Loquasto, alongside lighting designer Christopher Akerlind, sound designer Dan Moses Schreier, and musical arranger David Krane with musical supervisor/director Paul Gemignani. The cast featured Audra McDonald as Lizzie, Steve Kazee as Starbuck, and John Cullum as H.C. Curry. McDonald won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and was nominated for a TONY Award for her performance. McDonald’s performance was highlighted by critics, although some believed she was almost too good for such a small, understated musical, with New York Times critic Ben Brantley saying, “She’s an overwhelming presence in an underwhelming show.” The revival was nominated for five TONY Awards in total, but failed to win any. In June 2010, McDonald reprised her role in a two-week fundraising production of the show for the Hale Center Theater in Orem, Utah. A recording of this production was released in June 2007, which adds two tracks of dialogue.

The original and revival recordings are readily available on streaming services, and we’d highly recommend giving this beautiful show a listen, Besties! 

FACTS:

Music: Harvey Schmidt

Lyrics: Tom Jones

Book: N. Richard Nash

Theatre: Broadhurst Theatre

Run: 24 October 1963 – 8 August 1964 (330 performances)

TONYS:

(1964) NOMINATED Best Original Score – Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical – Inga Swenson, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – Will Geer, Best Direction of a Musical – Joseph Anthony

(2007 Revival) NOMINATED Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical – Audra McDonald, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – John Cullum, Best Orchestrations – Jonathan Tunick, Best Lighting Design – Christopher Akerlind