Love Story “The Rainmaker” Opens in Park

By Betty O’Neal Giboney

The difference a day made in the life of Lizzie Curry when “The Rainmaker” appears unfolded as a dramatic love story Thursday night in Theater in the Park in the Shelter House at Memorial Park.

If you are weary of reruns, inane comedy or violence on TV—or even if you aren’t—see this play to be repeated today at 8 p.m. as well as on July 30 and twice in August. You will laugh a little, perhaps cry a little, and forget where you are as you are taken up in the drama going on before your eyes.

The play takes place in a western state on a summer day, the program states. That’s one problem. The second problem is more personal to the Currys—father H. C. Curry, played by Dick Willis; his sons Noah (Phil Barr) and Jim (Jim Baird) and concerns the daughter in the family, Lizzie (Vicki Horn). She isn’t married and her chances of finding a husband appear slim.

Enter Bill Starbuck, (John Borrowman III) as the Rainmaker, who rips away the limitations of the circumstances, a freedom used wisely by Lizzie. She insists her dreams fit her personality. In the meantime, we have met File, the lawman, played by Gary Imel who makes his own important contribution.

With the exception of Borrowman and Imel, members of the cast have been seen in previous productions this year at Theater in the Park. Their roles may be different, but their acting still is superb—it’s even possible to hate Phil Barr when he brutally tells his sister, Vicki Horn, to face facts—she is a spinster.

Imel is well known for his work with First Nighter and he, too, is a good actor. The only newcomer is John Borrowman III as Bill Starbuck. He is new in town, as well as on local stages, only recently becoming executive director of the Hancock-Henry County Interlocal CAP agency. He also is a theater major. Without a good rainmaker, you wouldn’t have much of a play. “Rainmaker” as presented Thursday is quite a play. ‘Nuff said?

Director of this and other productions is Dick Willis. With two musicals and two plays already in the repertoire, it is possible to describe Willis’s crowd in a word. That word is “Class,” it was evident Thursday.