''Johnny Baseball: The New Red Sox Musical'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

with a book by

Richard Dresser Richard Dresser (born 1951) is an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist and teacher whose work has been performed in New York, leading regional theaters, and all over Europe. His first dystopian fiction novel, ''It Happened Here,'' an oral hi ...

and a score by brothers

Robert Reale Robert Reale (born 1956) is an American composer with a long list of credits in film, TV and theater. He is also the owner o4 Elements Musican8118 Music Reale regularly works with younger brother Willie Reale. In 2003 he was nominated for a Tony ...

and

Willie Reale Willie Reale is an American lyricist who has received Academy Award nominations for best song category for his work as a lyricist on the movie ''Dreamgirls'' and has won 3 Emmy awards (in 2010, 2011) as one of the writer/producers for ''The Electri ...

. The story involves circumstances relating to the

Curse of the Bambino The Curse of the Bambino was a superstitious sports curse in Major League Baseball (MLB) derived from the 86-year championship drought of the Boston Red Sox between and . The superstition was named after Babe Ruth, colloquially known as " Th ...

. The musical had a preview run in Massachusetts that began on May 14, 2010. The musical's world premiere was on June 2, 2010 at the Loeb Drama Center of the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

Synopsis

Originally called ''Red Sox Nation'', ''Johnny Baseball'' was conceived after the Red Sox's stunning collapse in the 2003 playoffs due to the "

Curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...

", which is often cited as a reason for the failure of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

baseball team to win the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

in the 86-year period from 1918 until 2004. The Curse is traced to the interactions of three people: the fictional Johnny O'Brien, a hard-luck right-hander on the 1919 Red Sox; his idol,

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

; and O'Brien's love interest, Daisy Wyatt, an African American blues singer. The show is told through flashbacks between the fourth game of the 2004

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...

and the fictional life of Johnny O'Brien. The musical ends with

David Ortiz David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican-American former designated hitter (DH) and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played in the American League (AL) from 1997 to 2016, primarily wit ...

ending the Curse in 2004.

Original production numbers

Source: ''CurtainUp'',Switzky, Lawrence
"''Johnny Baseball''"
''CurtainUp''. 2010-06-10. UMaine program ;Act I *Overture *Eighty-Six Years *Ballad of Johnny O'Brien *All I Have to Do *God Bless the Boston Red Sox *Don't I Know You? *Brotherhood of Bastards *Rooters' Song (removed in Maine production) *Maybe You're An Angel (replaced with "God Wouldn't Mind" in Maine production) *Ballad of Johnny O'Brien (Reprise) *Auto Strop Jingle (removed in Maine production) *Daisy Darling Why (removed in Maine production) *Do or Die (removed in Maine production) *Johnny Baseball Has A Vision (new in Maine production) *Color Me Blue *As Long As There's a Chance ;Act II *Entr'acte *Not Rivera *One More Run *Daisy's Letter *Worcester Booster's Fight Song *Circle in a Diamond *Free Country (removed in Maine production) *One More Run (Reprise) *Mr. Yawkey Has a Vision *All I Have to Do (Reprise) *See You in the Big Leagues *Errors *The Game of Baseball

Production history

The premiere production was staged at the

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

.Bacalzo, Dan
"Cast Set for A.R.T.'s ''Johnny Baseball'' Musical"
''Theater Mania''. 2010-12-03. The cast featured Colin Donnell as the fictional character Johnny O'Brien, Stephanie Umoh as the fictional character Daisy Wyatt,

Burke Moses Burke William Moses (born December 10, 1959, New York City) is an American actor. His older brother is actor Mark Moses. Career Moses attended Boston University and Carnegie Mellon University.Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

, Charl Brown as Tim, and Jeff Brooks as

Tom Yawkey Thomas Austin Yawkey, born Thomas Yawkey Austin (February 21, 1903 – July 9, 1976), was an American industrialist, philanthropist, conservationist and Major League Baseball executive. Born in Detroit, Yawkey became president of the Boston Red S ...

.Clay, Carolyn
"Bard in the USA"
. ''The Boston Phoenix''. 2009-12-09. The creative team included direction by

Diane Paulus Diane Marie Paulus (born 1966) is an American theater and opera director who is currently the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University.Colleen Walsh"Paulus reaches beyond boards" ''Harvar ...

, choreography by Peter Pucci, orchestrations by Wendy Bobbitt Cavett, costumes by Michael McDonald, sets by

Scott Pask Scott Pask is an American scenic and costume designer. He has worked primarily on stage productions in the United States, on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and in regional theatre, as well as in the United Kingdom. He has won Tony Awards for his work ...

, and lighting by

Donald Holder Donald Holder is an American lighting designer in theatre, opera and dance based in New York. He was born in 1962. He has been nominated for fourteen Tony Awards, winning the 1998 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design as well as the Drama Desk Award ...

. This production played from June 2, 2010 to July 11, 2010. ''Johnny Baseball'' was part of the theater's ''America: Boom, Bust and Baseball'' festival. It was next produced in August, 2012 by the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

Summer Music Theatre Festival and

Issaquah, Washington Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the "Issaquah Alp ...

-based

Village Theatre Village Theatre is a major regional theatre located in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. The theatre was founded in Issaquah, Washington, in 1979 and built a second lo ...

's Festival of New Musicals. After heavy rewrites, it was produced for the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Summer 2013.

Awards and nominations

Elliot Norton Award The Elliot Norton Awards are presented annually to honor the best achievements in Boston-area theater. The genesis of the awards was the Norton Medal, which was first awarded in 1983 and was named after long-time theater critic Elliot Norton (1903 ...

*Outstanding Director (Large Theater) (

) WINNER

Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards

*Best Musical ( A.R.T.) Nominated *Best Director of a Musical (

) Nominated *Best Supporting Actor Musical (

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Theater Mania page
2010 musicals