Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...I think, particularly in the earlier scenes, the performers could go for a wee bit more pain underneath the folksy wit and banter, in order to make the second-act payoffs register even more effectively. I suspect that will happen once they get a few more performances under their belts. But even on opening night, Blatchford's cast blew the dust off this endearing American classic by letting it breathe on its own oddball terms - just as Nash's characters must learn to do, no matter how arid the environment."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...“The Rainmaker” is now receiving an altogether charming production by American Blues Theater. And, with an ideal cast under the energetic but sensitive direction of Ed Blatchford (a co-founding member of the company, who for years has been working in film and television in Los Angeles), it fits this ensemble and its mission (“to illuminate the American ideas of freedom, equality, and opportunity”) like a glove."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...But director Edward Blatchford and the cast of this tenderhearted American Blues Theater production manage to neutralize those flaws by making the play less about sexual yearning than the need to have faith in something, even if it’s flimflam. Crucial to this effort is Linsey Page Morton, who plays Lizzie with an appealing combination of forthright independence and gentle longing."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Vincent Teninty and Matt Pratt exhibit a recognizably fraternal dynamic as bossy Noah and naive Jim Curry, both of whom also learn wisdom as a result of their mysterious mentor's intervention, as does Howie Johnson's phlegmatic File. Finally, Danny Goldring and Robert Breuler, whose combined credits encompass more mileage than it would be tactful to count, lend gravity to a production not quite ready on its opening night—its energy tending to plateau rather than escalate toward the end—but like its personae, poised on the threshold of fulfillment."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...No question, in creating Starbuck and Lizzie, Nash borrowed heavily from Tennessee Williams, just as he no doubt influenced Meredith Willson’s Professor Harold Hill and Marian Paroo, the local librarian. So what? Driven playwrights should borrow big to share the joy with later writers. Plus not since the 1930s has the metaphor of rain as rebirth meant as much as today (and not just in the Golden State)."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Of course The Rainmaker is a fantasy, and a down-homey one at that, but Nash’s advice isn’t bad, nor were his observations of how people think. American Blues Theater’s production takes the problems of its characters, especially Lizzie, seriously enough to create engaging drama, while demonstrating why life should be approached with openness and a positive attitude. It’s the sincerity that makes it work."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...The audience I saw this with found it a lot funnier than I did. I didn’t see it as the rip-roaring punch line fest as some did; to me it was an incredibly touching story of humanity and knowing who you are. I think that’s what this play should be. That’s the part of the play I fell in love with. But, that feeling was undercut by reaching for laughs too many times. As this production rolls on, they may continue to find more and more of that depth. But for right now, it falls just short of being the incredible production it could be."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...American Blues Theater has opened its 30th season with a bang. This production of one of America’s best-loved classics is being presented with a genuineness and simplicity that recalls a gentler time of wall telephones, wireless radios and an era when dreams were treasured because they inspired hope. Life, although harder, was simple and offered a beauty in its innocence. For younger audiences unfamiliar with Nash’s lovely play, this is a wonderful opportunity to experience its warmth and wonder. But for those who have met the Curry’s before, this production will not only bring back fond memories but will offer unique, new treasures, shining a sparkling new light on some old ideas before the raindrops begin to fall."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...This one here is the real mccoy! For the dreamers and the skeptics, THE RAINMAKER provides a refreshing little diddie. THE RAINMAKER pulled me into his miracle-making scam. And I became a believer."