Today there was a press release about a Broadway-bound play based on the life of Vince Lombardi. For those of you who are not sports fans, Lombardi is one of the greatest football coaches of all time (the Super Bowl trophy is named after him). You might be asking, why is this play of any significance? To me, pieces like this are a part of why I love the theater.
For many years, I have straddled the line between my passion for theater and sports. In most circles, this would seem like the most idiotic and oxymoronic combination of interests. For years, people have laughed at the sight of me writing or doing research about the musical theatre while watching whatever sporting event was peaking my interest.
Many people are led to believe from an early age that a person cannot be a fan of both the arts and sports. This is probably due to school's segmenting kids into specific activities. Certain kids will play football, basketball, etc. while some kids will be in the school play and sing in choir. For most people, this distinction is pretty commonplace, if not involuntary. This is especially apparent in high school, where students are told to choose their interests wisely with college applications looming sooner than later.
Luckily for me, I was blessed to always have both in my life. I started out as an athlete, but as I started doing theatre and realized that that was where I wanted to put my focus. At the same time, I didn't leave sports behind. I still followed my favorite teams, even though I had much less time to devote to it.
As years go by, I realize more and more why I have both of these interests: theater IS sports and sports IS theatre. The fundamental element of both is conflict. In fact, the origins of theater go back to the Greeks where festivals of plays were produced as contests. Central to each of the plays was the "agon" or battle. For years, people would come to plays in the same way they would attend sporting events: to see a battle.
Has this impulse changed? I don't think so. Sports can even be considered the ultimate theater. When we don't know how A-Rod is going to perform in the playoffs, that's theater. When an underdog takes the field, fans are hoping that they will show up and shock the world. Although it is hidden underneath the players salaries and numerous endorsements, any sport is still a conflict between two entities. In the same vein, a good piece of theater is grounded in dealing with conflict.
So I ask you: why not sports and theater together? It's worked before! Of course there's the hit musical, Damn Yankees, which uses baseball as its backdrop. We also see sports play a role in musicals like The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, All American, Wonderful Town, Ragtime, etc. One of the best non musical examples of sports as theater is Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out. This play deals with homosexuality as it relates to the sports world. This play was a huge hit and brought in a very different type of audience into the Broadway theater.
I can only hope that I will be lucky enough someday to contribute something to the theatrical canon that relates to sports. Hopefully, Lombardi will be a success and lead to many more sports/theatre crossovers! Who knows, maybe I can be a special theatrical guest analyst for ESPN someday!
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