Imagine what it might have been like to see Jackie Robinson debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. The first black major league baseball player of the modern era was a herald of the civil rights movement—indeed, he was much more than that. He was a six-time MLB all-star who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame before he reached the age of 45.
Premier Milwaukee children's theater company First Stage pays tribute to the baseball great with its upcoming offering, Steven Dietz's stage adaptation of Dan Gutman's popular children's book Jackie and Me. The premise is kind of a dream-come-true, wish fulfillment sort of thing for many baseball fans. A grade school kid needs to do a report on a major historical figure and actually travels back in time to interview Robinson while he was still playing ball. The play isn't all happiness, though. Robinson dealt with some seriously vitriolic racism in his life and this production deals with that in an honest manner. So the proper context is indeed called for in a show that is sure to be inspiring for everyone age 8 and older.
First Stage's production of Jackie and Me runs April 12- May 5 at the Marcus Center's Todd Wehr Theater. For ticket reservations, call 414-273-7206.
Theatre Happenings
Smithereen Productions stages Theresa Rebeck's Spike Heels April 18-27 at the Underground Collaborative Creative Center, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. The plot concerns a working-class girl taught the ways of modern middle-class society by a college professor. For ticket reservations, visit smithereenproductions.com.
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UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts pays tribute to Milwaukee's Avant Garde Coffehouse of the 1960s with a theater show directed by Rebecca Holderness and choreographed by Edward Winslow. Fly Steffens' Meet Me At The Avant Garde runs April 26-May 5 at Kenilworth Studio 508, 1925 E. Kenilworth Place. For ticket reservations, call 414-229-4308 or visit arts.uwm.edu/tickets.
