Photo by Mandi Mladenoff
By Riley Harker
“110 in the Shade,” the SU Department of Theatre’s most recent production opens just in time for family weekend.
The opening performance of the Broadway musical will be Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. and there will be a show each night through Saturday, Oct. 1 with a matinee at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2.
“110 in the Shade” is based on the play “The Rainmaker,” and features a score composed by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. It takes place in southwestern America and follows an independent and strong-willed Lizzie Curry as she encounters a traveling con-man, Bill Starbuck, who promises he can conjure rain in the small drought-stricken town. The musical has earned two Drama Desk awards and nine Tony Award nominations.
“Playing Lizzie has been a very empowering experience and I am deeply honored to have been selected. I’m also excited to show the audiences all of the hard work that me and my two co-stars, Joseph Peachey and Luke Rider, have done between our three characters.” said Kirsten Weirich, the first-year Theatre Studies major cast to play the lead female, Lizzie Curry.
Tickets are on sale at the University Box Office from noon until 5:00 PM on weekdays and can also be purchased by calling 570-372-ARTS. Tickets will also be sold thirty minutes before performances subject to availability. They are free for Susquehanna students and employees and cost $10 for non-SU adults and $5 for non-SU students.
Professor and Director Erik Viker said about the musical, “As the director, I have especially enjoyed the challenge of finding contemporary messaging in a hyper-traditional piece of classic musical theatre that takes for granted the ‘woman needs a man’ stereotypes of its originating era. Without changing a word of the play, we’re crafting a more nuanced narrative about a woman achieving self-direction amidst the dreams and adversity of her community.”
