Photos Courtesy of Curtis Brown Will Savarese, playing Ebby LaLosh, and Carmen Cusack as Annie Savoy.
Will Savarese, playing Ebby LaLosh, and Carmen Cusack as Annie Savoy.
The Paper Mill Playhouse hits a home run with its fun, lively, entertaining production of “Bull Durham,” a musical comedy, combining romance with baseball – and overflowing with incredible talent.
With a marvelous book by Ron Shelton, outstanding music and lyrics by Susan Werner and fine direction by Marc Bruni, this wonderful production, based on the 1988 film of the same name, truly hits it out of the park – apologies for the baseball puns.
The story centers around a not-so-successful North Carolina minor league baseball team, the Durham Bulls, that brings in a veteran catcher Crash Davis played by Nik Walker, to train rookie pitcher Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh played by Will Savarese. Also starring in this production is the uber talented triple threat, two-time Tony nominated Broadway actress Carmen Cusack playing Annie Savoy, who is a big fan of the team and also the love interest of both Davis and LaLoosh.
Savoy, along with the ensemble, opens the show singing the fabulous, rousing number “The Church of Basebal.” We learn right away that she is not your typical fan. Each year, she selects a single player from the team to instruct in the art of concentration to sharpen his game – and also to become her lover for the season.
In this particular season she chooses the young, good-looking LaLoosh who has talent but is all over the place with his pitches. But when Davis, also handsome, comes on the scene and meets Savoy, sparks fly – and a rivalry for her affection begins between the rookie pitcher and the veteran catcher.
Savarese’s dancing in “She’s Mine” is absolutely, literally draw-dropping – you have to see it to believe it. He is just so loose and flexible – he jumps, he flips, he even moon walks – and then there are some hilarious dances you never heard of – and all with razor-sharp precision.
There are so many fantastic dance numbers in this fast-paced, energetic show – some involving ball throwing and catching and even bats thrown and caught – that sometimes there is so much to see you don’t know where to look first. The choreography by Tony-nominated Joshua Bergasse is stupendous with a big shout out to dance and fight captain Matt Wiercinski who is also part of the ensemble and Rocio Mendez, the fight and intimacy director.
Ashlyn Maddox playing Millie, a fan of the team – and especially a big fan of some of the players in a very intimate way – is sweet and sexy. She finally sets her sights on one innocent young baseball player, Jimmy played by Andrew Poston, who doesn’t realize how Millie feels about him until his buddies wise him up. In “Every Woman Deserves to Wear White” Savoy and Millie lead the female ensemble in another standout number.
Nick Wyman as Uncle Roy Tuck, a sports reporter and father figure, James Moye as the team coach and Joel Ashur as Larry the pitching coach are all excellent and believable in their roles.
Rounding out this brilliant cast is the gifted ensemble consisting of Ellie Barone, Mike Baerga, Tre Booker, Jacob Burns, Daniel DiPinto, Benny Elledge, Diania Huey, Ashton Lambert, Brian Shimasaki Liebson, Jessi Little, Carson Hampton Palmer, Valentina Shelton, Jake Trammel, Dori Waymer, Wiercinski, Casey Wortham and Blake Zelesnikar.
The sets by Derek McLane are clever. The main set is a mini baseball field, with movable bleachers for some of the numbers with a large bull in the background. Much of the action also takes place at Mitch’s Tavern and Savoy’s home. The smart lighting design by Cory Pattak adds depth to the atmosphere of the scenes. Alejo Vietti’s late 80’s period costumes are bright and add to the upbeat nature of this show.
Adding to the merriment of this production, as the intermission draws to a close and the last few people are taking their seats, the team mascot, a bull, appears dancing around on stage and leads everyone in a spirited “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” all the while throwing balls out into the audience.
If you want an upbeat night which will leave you smiling and fulfilled, run on over to the Paper Mill Playhouse. Catch it right here in Millburn as I predict this one will go straight to Broadway. “Bull Durham” is on stage through Nov. 2.
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