Danielle Skraastad to Lead The Old Globe's THE RAINMAKER; Full Cast Announced!

The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team for the Globe's revival of N. Richard Nash's classic romantic comedyThe Rainmaker. Directed by Maria Mileaf, The Rainmaker will run July 13 - August 11, 2013 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run July 13 - July 17. Opening night is Thursday, July 18 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

The Rainmaker is set against the sweeping landscape of the American Midwest. On her family's drought-ridden ranch, Lizzie's hopes and dreams have run as dry as the barren fields. When the irresistible Starbuck arrives in town, selling the promise of rain, Lizzie must decide: is he a con man, or does he hold the key to everything she desires?

"It's the Globe's pleasure to add a sweet note of romance to the beautiful San Diego summer," said Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "The Rainmaker's story of a young woman's search for love and for self in the vast open spaces of the American plains continues to resonate. The Old Globe's production, under the visionary direction of Maria Mileaf, finds the beating heart in a gorgeous play that deserves its place in the pantheon of American classics."

Danielle Skraastad makes her Globe debut as Lizzie. Her Broadway credits include All My Sons, and her Off Broadway credits include The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (Signature Theatre Company/The Public Theater), In the Wake (The Public Theater), The Pain and the Itch (Playwrights Horizons), Anon (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Mound Builders (Signature Theatre Company).

Gbenga Akinnagbe plays the mysterious Starbuck. His theater credits include The Oedipus Cycle (The Shakespeare Theatre Company), Henry V (The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park) and The Thin Place (Intiman Theatre). He is also known for his leading role on the HBO series "The Wire" as well as recurring roles on "The Good Wife," "Nurse Jackie" and the new USA series "Graceland."

The cast of The Rainmaker also features Tug Coker (File), Peter Douglas (Noah Curry), Kyle Harris (Jim Curry), John Judd (H. C. Curry) and Herbert Siguenza(Sheriff Thomas).

The creative team includes Neil Patel (Scenic Design), Katherine Roth (Costume Design), Japhy Weideman (Lighting Design), Bart Fasbender (Sound Design),Ryan Beattie Scrimger (Vocal and Dialect Coach), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting) and Monica A. Cuoco (Stage Manager).

The Rainmaker is supported in part through gifts from Production Sponsors Peter Cooper and Norman Blachford and California Bank & Trust. Additional support is provided by KPMG.

N. Richard Nash (Playwright) was born Nathaniel Richard Nusbaum on June 7, 1913, in Philadelphia. While in school at University of Pennsylvania he directed plays at Bryn Mawr, a nearby women's college, and received great reviews for a play he wrote featuring only female characters. Nash received the Maxwell Anderson Verse Drama Award for Parting at Imsdorf (1940). His other notable theatrical plays include Second Best Bed (1946), The Young and Fair (1948), See the Jaguar(1952), Girls of Summer (1956), Handful of Fire (1958) and the musical Wildcat (1960). During the 1950s, Nash was one of six writers selected by producer Fred Coe to create serious drama for television. His most famous play, The Rainmaker, appeared in all three mediums: on Broadway in 1954, as a motion picture starring Katharine Hepburn in 1956 and as a television production in 1982. A musical version of The Rainmaker, entitled 110 Degrees in the Shade, debuted on Broadway in 1963. Among Nash's screenplay credits are Nora Prentiss (1946), Dear Wife (1950) and Top of the World (1955). Adapting the works of others, he wrote the script for The Sainted Sisters (1948) and Porgy and Bess (1959). Later in his career, Nash focused on writing novels. East Wind, Rain (1977), inspired by his time serving with the Office of War Information during World War II, took seven years to research. Other novels include Cry Macho (1975) and Radiance (1983). He died on Dec. 11, 2000, in New York City at the age of 87.

Maria Mileaf (Director) has directed the New York productions of Lee Blessing's Body of Water (Primary Stages) and Going to St. Ives (Outer Critic Circle Award for Best New Play, 2005), Alexandra Gerston-Vassilaros' The Argument (Vineyard Theatre), Kira Obolensky's Lobster Alice (Playwrights Horizons), Vijay Tendulkar'sSakharam Binder and Eric Emmanuel-Schmidt's Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran (The Play Company), Brooke Berman's A Perfect Couple (DR2 Theatre), Oren Safdie's Private Jokes, Public Places (Center for Architecture), Erik Ehn's 'Maid (Lincoln Center Festival), Neena Beber's Hard Feelings (Women's Project), Julia Cho's 99 Histories (Cherry Lane Theatre) and Dawn Saito's HA (Dance Theater Workshop). Regionally, her credits include Patricia Wettig's F2M and Joanna Murray-Smith's Ninety (New York Stage and Film), Going to St. Ives (La Jolla Playhouse), Lucy Prebble's The Sugar Syndrome, John Belluso's A Nervous Smile and Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty and Tracey Scott Wilson's The Story (Philadelphia Theatre Company, Barrymore Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles (Berkshire Theatre Festival) and Wasserstein's Thirdwith Christine Lahti (Geffen Playhouse). On the West End, Mileaf directed Richard Schiff in Glen Berger's Underneath the Lintel. She received her M.F.A. from University of California, San Diego.

TICKETS to The Rainmaker can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Performances begin on July 13 and continue through Aug. 11. Ticket prices start at $29. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, July 13 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, July 14 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 16 at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday, July 17 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

Photo by Walter McBride