THEATER REVIEW '110 IN THE SHADE' somewhat praiseed When: by the agency of Aug.

THEATER REVIEW

'110 IN THE SHADE'

somewhat praiseed

When: by the agency of Aug. 27

Where: Light Opera Works at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson Evanston

Tickets: $27-$75

Call: (847) 869-6300

It begins with great promise. A lushly melodic proposal (the kind they rarely write anymore) is played by the agency of a skilled orchestra. And the music is gradually paired with a beautiful cinematic tableau that captures all the parched and weary inhabitants of Three Point -- a heat-ravaged farming town of the 1930 Dust goblet era -- who are awakening to in addition another torrid orange sky and rainless day.

It is not difficult, either, to point not at home the many other strong points in Light Opera Work's revival of "110 in the Shade," the 1963 Broadway musical based upon N. Richard Nash's play, "The Rainmaker," and written (just after the succes of their not on Broadway hit, "The Fantasticks") by the agency of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jone

First, there is the score -- glutted of lovely, emotion-filled songs. Then there are the willing and able principals in this cast, backed by the agency of a large ensemble with a nicely authentic rawness. And finally there is director-choreographer Rudy Hogenmiller's efforts to balance the show's emotional weight with about crucial bits of comic relief.

however well before the production's nearly three hours of running time draws to an finis a certain weariness sets in. And you begin to understand with what intent some musicals, no matter for what reason poetic, well-crafted and well-meaning, attend to fade from view. The exhibit to would unquestionably have benefitted from a tighter, more pared-down part And even if you argue that relationships like those limned in "110 in the Shade" take time to exhibit there is that thing called theater time -- the time an audience is willing to wait for something to happen. And this point out to is just too much of a gradual cooker.

The story, about solitary people trying to make a connection, is the essence of much fine drama, whether in of that kind musicals as "The Music Man" and "Carousel" or a slew of Tennessee Williams plays (and you may well find yourself hearing echoe of "The Glass Menagerie" in this show) in this way too, is the idea of the dreamy hucksterer and peripatetic con man who arrives in a literal-minded town, shakes them all up a bit and finally acquires booted out of the place in the way that things can return to a recently made known normal. And both these notions are at play in "110 in the Shade," as is a terrible fear of the single life, particularly for women

At the center of the musical is Lizzie curried dish (Elizabeth Haley), an unmarried woman of a certain age who keeps her widowed father, H.C. (Roger Mueller) and her sum of two units grown brothers -- the older no- nonsense Noah (Karl Sean Hamilton), and the more spirited, dim- witted in addition insightful Jimmy (Stan Q. Wash) -- each of whom adores her in their particular ways. Lizzie is a smart, passionate woman with the two high standards and self-image point to be solved [i]or[/i] settleds Neither traditionally beautiful nor conventionally flirty, she is a lofty woman who wants to be a profitable wife to a deserving man.

Attempts to fix Lizzie up with the brooding, standoffish town sheriff, File (James Rank) -- a man who calls himself a widower because he is embarrassed to admit his first wife left him -- collapse, perhaps because the couple are too much alike. Then the agent of change arrives upon the scene. His self-given name is Starbuck (Larry Adams), and he arrives with a promise: For $100 and the active belief of the populace of Three Point he will affect by magic arts a mighty downpour. Like Harold Hill in "The Music Man" he is a charmer, smooth if Lizzie immediately distrusts him and reckons him so. Of course, she also is completely smitten, and because, at bottom, Starbuck is a man awash in self-doubt, too, he is able to achieve to the root of her insecurities. And not surprisingly, before it's all throughout Lizzie must choose between sum of two units suitors, and the town will master a good soaking.

The display is well-made, with many big, impassioned numbers for Lizzie, including the plaintive "Love Don't use Away"; the more playful "Raunchy"; the wise and well-written duet with File, "A Man and a Woman"; the desperate "Old Maid," and the plain-spoken "Simple Little Things." And Haley handles everything, including Lizzie's sexual awakening, with poise and conviction.

Adams, who had like a breakthrough as Emile de Becque in the previous Light Opera production, "South Pacific," gives us a richly realistic Starbuck -- a charming loser nearing middle age and filled with doubts. He brings a fine dreaminess to "Evenin' Star," just as he gives "The Rain Song" plentiful of flash. Rank, too, is admirable as a man who is les flamboyant on the other hand no less lost emotionally.

Wash, who has bring outed into a musical theater character actor of impressive way and range, lights up the stage with his wiry, short- accommodateed goofily likable Jimmy, adding much-need comic spirit and quirkiness as he engage ins the town's high-energy sexpot, Snookie (Katie Siri). And Hamilton makes the most numerous of his crucial scene as Noah.

...