Lombardi: guys, issues, and a great space

I had the pleasure of seeing the play Lombardi last night - to say that Dan Lauria looks and sounds like the man himself would be a major understatement. It's a terrific play - well written, well directed, and I love the cast (Judith Light, Michael McCormick, and as the football players Bill Dawes, Robert Christopher Riley, and Chris Sullivan). I'm a football fan (go Giants!) as well as a theater-lover, so I certainly wasn't going to miss this.

But since all of this has been well covered elsewhere, I'd like to present a few thoughts on other points.

First: I have never - and I do mean never - seen so many guys at a play. It really made me smile to see clusters of middle-aged men in business suits or in jeans & sweaters at a play without a woman dragging them. I really hope other shows are able to bring them in as well (how about a play that incorporates the 1986 World Series, maybe from the perspective of a fan? Just a thought...)

Second: Playwright Eric Simonson did a great job of touching on important issues without belaboring them. A few examples:

In a flashback scene, the great man wonders aloud if his inability to get a head coaching job - even at the college level - has anything to do with his name ending in a vowel.

Dave Robinson is the Green Bay Packers' rep to the NFL Players Association, and is trying to put off his teammate Jim Taylor (an excellent Chris Sullivan), who wants his salary and benefit grievances (including payment for exhibitions games!) addressed immediately rather than after the season. It's amazing to realize that NFL players didn't even have a collective bargaining agreement until 1968.

The African American Robinson also appreciates Lombardi's insistance that black and white players be able to stay in the same hotel in the south, and prohibits them from drinking in segregated bars (paraphrasing Robinson: "maybe that's because he's been called a WOP his entire life").

Third (and finally): I have to say that the Circle in the Square Theater is one of my favorite Broadway spaces. It's relatively small, there are no bad seats, and it allows for interesting directorial choices with the audience on all 4 sides. I saw the trilogy The Norman Conquests there last year, and look forward to seeing what they do next.