Video Promo: National Pastime by Tony Sportiello and Al Tapper, Austin Theatre Project at Center Stage, September 19 - October 6, 2013

Promo video just posted for the

production of

National Pastime

book by Tony Sportiello, music and lyrics by Al Tapper

directed by Barbara Schuler with music direction by David Blackburn

choreography by Meg Steiner

September 19 - October 6, 2013

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.

Center Stage Texas, 2826 Real Street, south of Manor Rd. - click for map 

NATIONAL PASTIME takes place in Baker City, Iowa in 1933. As the country is coming out of the Great Depression, about the only business in Baker City that seems to be holding on (barely) is the radio station WZBQ. The last time they had made any kind of profit was before the Depression... when the team was home to the minor league baseball team, the Baker City Cougars. In order to save the station, the owners decide to broadcast Cougar baseball again... only there's no team to broadcast!
What do you do when decide to broadcast baseball without a team? Broadcast fake games of course! Incredibly, the entire scheme works and the station is rolling in the profits once again. All is well until a reporter from Life Magazine arrives to do a story on the incredible Iowa baseball team.

NATIONAL PASTIME features Jim Lindsay, Haley Smith, Brandon Myers, Derek Smootz, Rachel Hoovler, Suzanne Orzech, Erik Freisinger, Matt Gauk, Kate Clark, Wendy Jo Cox and Heather Anne Howes. 

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

NATIONAL PASTIME, a musical by Tony Sportiello and Al Tapper, Austin Theatre Project at Center Stage, September 19 - October 6, 2013

[






Austin Theatre Project, performing at Center Stage Texas, 2826 Real Street, south of Manor Rd. - CLICK FOR MAP]
 
presents

National Pastime

book by Tony Sportiello, music and lyrics by Al Tapper

directed by Barbara Schuler with music direction by David Blackburn

September 19 - October 6, 2013

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.

Center Stage Texas, 2826 Real Street, south of Manor Rd. - click for map 

NATIONAL PASTIME takes place in Baker City, Iowa in 1933. As the country is coming out of the Great Depression, about the only business in Baker City that seems to be holding on (barely) is the radio station WZBQ. The last time they had made any kind of profit was before the Depression... when the team was home to the minor league baseball team, the Baker City Cougars. In order to save the station, the owners decide to broadcast Cougar baseball again... only there's no team to broadcast!

What do you do when decide to broadcast baseball without a team? Broadcast fake games of course! Incredibly, the entire scheme works and the station is rolling in the profits once again. All is well until a reporter from Life Magazine arrives to do a story on the incredible Iowa baseball team.
 
NATIONAL PASTIME features some of the best and brightest talent Austin has to offer. In the role of Barry, the station owner is Jim Lindsay ("Baby," "Blood Brothers," "Singin' in the Rain"). Haley Smith ("Baby," "I Love You Because") plays Karen, the Chicago attorney who arrives in Baker City to sell the station, but ends up fully immersed in the zany plot. Cast in the roles of station employees are Brandon Myers ("Blood Brothers," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"), Derek Smootz ("The Fantasticks", "Princess Ida"), Rachel Hoovler ("Avenue Q," "Rocky Horror Picture Show"), and Suzanne Orzech ("Baby," "Thoroughly Modern Millie"). In the roles of the bumbling mobster misfits are Erik Freisinger ("South Pacific", "A Few Good Men") and Matt Gauk ("Baby," "A Few Good Men"). Rounding out the exceptional cast is the jingle singing trio consisting of Kate Clark ("Princess Ida"), Wendy Jo Cox ("Baby", "South Pacific"), and Heather Anne Howes (making her Austin theatrical debut).
 
NATIONAL PASTIME features a book by Tony Sportiello and music & lyrics by Al Tapper. Back in March, Austin Theatre Project had a very special guest in the audience of the musical Edges. New York playwright Tony Sportiello had just spent the day with ATP founders Barbara Schuler and David Blackburn and was taking in the critically acclaimed show. As soon as the show finished, Sportiello pulled Schuler and Blackburn aside and raved about the talent on the stage and caliber of the production. He then offered ATP the first preview production of his musical NATIONAL PASTIME which is expected to open on Broadway in 2014.

The musical is being directed by Barbara Schuler with music direction by David Blackburn. Choreography is by Meg Steiner. The set is designed by David Blackburn with Sound and Lighting design by Joel Mercado-See and Dustin Downing. Technical director for the production is Jim Schuler.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Austin Theatre Project to Produce 'National Pastime' musical in September, 2013

Austin Theatre Project Awarded Workshop Production of Broadway-Bound 'National Pastime'

Algonquin Productions and Austin Theatre Project are thrilled to announce that the producers of the Broadway-bound musical National Pastime have awarded the Austin-based theatre company one of three workshop productions. Artistic Director David Blackburn says, “We have always felt the Austin theatre community has an incredible level of talent and we are both humbled and thrilled to have been selected for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Tony Sportiello, the musical’s author, recently visited Austin and spent the day with ATP founders Blackburn and Barbara Schuler and took in their production of Edges at the Dougherty Arts Center. After his visit to Austin, Sportiello remarked, “I thought everyone involved was terrific and the production values first class. I really look forward to working with such an amazing group of people on National Pastime."

National Pastime takes place in 1933. The country is trying to fight its way out of the Great Depression and no one has been hit harder than the sleepy burg of Baker City, Iowa. Its main industry, radio station WBZQ, is on the verge of going under and taking the town with it. The last time they had any ratings was when they broadcast the exploits of their home town baseball team but that team is long gone. So they create a new one, a fictional team that can't lose. They broadcast the fake games over the air and soon the ratings are soaring. All is well until Life Magazine shows up to do a story on the team.

The screwball musical, with book by Sportiello and music and lyrics by Al Tapper, was originally commissioned by the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY as a one-act play. The score was added a year later and once again saw great success at the Hall of Fame. After a production in Washington, DC and brief Off-Broadway run, the production found the necessary backing for a Broadway production.

Austin Theatre Project’s production of National Pastime is scheduled to open September 19 and will run through October 6 at the Center Stage theatre. Open auditions for the production will be held online and will begin in late July. For more information, contact Austin Theatre Project at info@austintheatreproject.org.