''Bronx Bombers'' is a play written by

Eric Simonson Eric Simonson (born June 27, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American writer and director in theatre, film and opera. He is a member of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and the author of plays '' Lombardi'', ''Fake'', ''Honest'', ''Magic/B ...

, and produced by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, in conjunction with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. The play focuses on former Yankee

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seas ...

and his wife, Carmen, as they interact with other Yankees from different eras. It made its Broadway debut on February 6, 2014, and closed on March 2, 2014.

Development

Kirmser and Ponturo met while working on the 2009 Broadway revival of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

''. ''Bronx Bombers'' is the third play produced by Kirmser and Ponturo to focus on sports, following '' Lombardi'', which followed

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi ( ; June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American professional football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be among the greatest coaches and leaders in Ame ...

, and ''

Magic/Bird ''Magic/Bird'' is a play by Eric Simonson about basketball stars Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, their rise from college basketball to the NBA and super stardom, and eventually the Olympic Dream Tea ...

'', which focused on

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

players

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

and

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend" Bird is widely regarded a ...

. Ponturo, who worked in sports marketing before theatre, worked with

(MLB) executives, which enabled him to gain an "endorsement of authenticity" from MLB and the

, to write a play about the Yankees franchise. Kirmser and Ponturo sat down with

and his wife, Carmen, to discuss writing a play where the plot would center around them, gaining their approval. ''Bronx Bombers'' began as an

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production, premiering at Primary Stages. It ran from September 20 through October 19, 2013. Present day Yankees Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia promoted the show on ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

''. Previews for the Broadway production began on January 10, 2014, and it made its official debut on Broadway at the

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, within the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The current Broadway theater, completed in 1972, i ...

on February 6, 2014. The play was able to recoup only a quarter of its potential box office take of $733,260. The play closed on March 2, 2014, after 29 regular performances.

Plot overview

The show begins in 1977, the day after

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cal ...

and Billy Martin engaged in a near-brawl during a game. Berra attempts to bring Jackson and Martin back together, with the help of other Yankees stars. In the first scene, Berra brings Martin and Jackson, with

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

Thurman Munson, to his hotel room to settle their argument. Berra spends the night with his wife discussing the problem. Berra then has a dream where he and his wife have dinner with Yankees' greats

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

Elston Howard Elston Gene Howard (February 23, 1929 – December 14, 1980) was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and a left fielder. During a 14-year baseball career, he played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues and Major Leag ...

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig ( ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941), also known as Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was ...

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

, and

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974), nicknamed "the Captain", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) caree ...

Cast

Peter Scolari Peter Thomas Scolari (September 12, 1955 – October 22, 2021) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Henry Desmond in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC sitcom ''Bosom Buddies'' (1980–1982) and Michael Harris on the C ...

and Tracy Shayne starred as Yogi Berra and his wife, Carmen. Scolari and Shayne were married in 2013. Richard Topol and Wendy Makkena played Yogi and Carmen Berra in the Off-Broadway production. Joe Pantoliano was cast in the role of Yogi Berra for the Broadway production, but he dropped out during rehearsals due to "creative differences". The play features cameos of other famous Yankees. In both the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, C. J. Wilson played Ruth, Christopher Jackson played Jeter, Francois Battiste played both Jackson and Howard, Chris Henry Coffey played DiMaggio, Bill Dawes played Mantle and Munson, Keith Nobbs played Martin, and John Wernke played Gehrig.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bronx Bombers 2014 plays Plays by Eric Simonson Broadway plays Works about the New York Yankees Biographical plays about sportspeople Cultural depictions of Babe Ruth Cultural depictions of Joe DiMaggio Cultural depictions of baseball players Plays set in the United States