Steve On Broadway (SOB)

Will Steady Rain Open Box Office Floodgates?

Will Steady Rain Open Box Office Flood-gates?

Yesterday came official news that Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig are Broadway-bound this September in what is sure to be one of the 2009-10 Theatrical Season's hottest tickets.

The dynamic duo will bond as Chicago cops in Keith Huff's A Steady Rain, directed by John Crowley, who received a Tony nomination for helming The Pillowman in 2005.

As everyone knows, neither of these two actors are just another couple of pretty faces.

Jackman, of course, scored bigtime with his heartbreaking take on the late Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz back in 2003. Almost in spite of the lackluster material, the Australian actor soared high above it, winning praise, adoring fans and a permanent place in the hearts of Broadway theatregoers with his Tony-winning performance.

As for Craig, although this marks his Broadway debut, he's an established stage presence in London theatre circles. Long before he captured the public's attention as James Bond, he first made his mark doing Shakespeare in the National Youth Theatre when he was just 16. Craig burnished his stage credentials with West End roles, including in the Royal National Theatre's original London production of Angels In America; Craig played four roles, including Joseph Porter Pitt.

A Steady Rain made its debut at the tiny Chicago Dramatists in 2007 under the direction of Russ Tutterow. At the time, Chris Jones of The Chicago Tribune described the two-hander play as:

...a gritty, rich, thick, poetic and entirely gripping noir tale of two Chicago police officers whose inner need to serve and protect both consumes them and rips them apart.... [T]he storytelling skills of this Iowa-trained playwright are truly remarkable.

A Steady Rain will pour at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre beginning September 10 with opening night slated for September 29. The limited engagement will run through December 6.

Expect a deluge at the box office (American Express cardholders get first dibs tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. EDT via Telecharge). If it goes dry, then the economy is really much worse than any of us thought.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: A Steady Rain, Broadway, Chicago, Daniel Craig, First Word On New Show, Hugh Jackman, John Crowley, Keith Huff, Play

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, July 10, 2009