"Bull Durham The Musical" takes stage
Atlanta, GA: BULL DURHAM, a new musical based on the beloved 1988 film, which Sports Illustrated proclaimed the "#1 Greatest Sports Movie of All-time," will premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in September 2014.
Directed by Kip Fagan, BULL DURHAM has a book by Academy Award-nominee Ron Shelton (director and screenwriter of the Bull Durham movie) and music and lyrics by Susan Werner, whom the Chicago Tribune called, "one of the most innovative songwriters working today."
BULL DURHAM, loosely based on Ron Shelton's experiences on and off the field with a Minor League Baseball team, tells the story of three lives brought together by America's two favorite past times. Veteran catcher "Crash" Davis has been brought to the Durham Bulls to prepare rookie Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh, a hot rod pitcher with a "million dollar arm and a five cent head," for the majors. Annie Savoy, self-appointed high priestess and muse of the Bulls, has a hard decision to make - every season she transforms one lucky player from an also-ran to an all-star by sharing with them her wisdom, experience and bed. The love triangle heats up quickly as each character struggles with their own desires and hopes for what the future holds. A pitch perfect blend of comedy, drama, and steamy romance, BULL DURHAM will leave you cheering from the stands.
The creative team also includes Emmy Award-winning choreographer Joshua Bergasse, Tony Award-winner Derek McLane (Scenic Design), Tony Award-nominee Toni Leslie James (Costume Design) and Jason DeBord (music director).
Casting, additional creative team and a production schedule will be announced at a later date.
For more information, visit BullDurhamTheMusical.com<.>
BIOGRAPHIES
RON SHELTON (Book) is a film director and screenwriter, most notable for the many films he has made about sports. As a writer and director, he has helmed Bull Durham, Blaze, White Men Can't Jump, Cobb, Tin Cup, Play it to the Bone, Dark Blue, Hollywood Homicide, and Hound Dogs. He has also written Under Fire, The Best of Times, Blue Chips, The Great White Hype, and Bad Boys II. Shelton was a minor league baseball player in the Baltimore Orioles' organization from 1967 to 1971.
SUSAN WERNER (Music & Lyrics) was raised in rural Iowa but began her professional music career in Philadelphia, after studying classical voice at Temple University. Inspired by a Nanci Griffith concert, Werner left behind her opera training and began performing as a singer-songwriter at coffeehouses throughout the Northeast. She self-released her first album Midwestern Saturday Night in 1992 and then went on to put out Live at Tin Angel the following year. In 1995 came her breakout album, BMG/Private Music's Last of the Good Straight Girls. Werner went on to record two more albums, adding some country and soul sounds to her signature vocal stylings. In 2004 Susan Werner released her album of instant songbook classics I Can't Be New on Koch Records. Since 2005, Werner has released a handful of albums, asserting her command over the form through collections of agnostic gospel hymns, classic American rock and pop songs, and a cycle of tunes inspired by her farming roots (2013's Hayseed).
KIP FAGAN (Director) directed Jesse Eisenberg's The Revisionist (with Vanessa Redgrave) as well as Eisenberg's Asuncion for Rattlestick. Other Rattlestick credits include Heidi Schreck's There Are No More Big Secrets and Sheila Callaghan's That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play. Other NYC: Carlos Murillo's A Thick Description of Harry Smith and Sam Hunter's Jack's Precious Moment (P73), Sheila Callaghan's Roadkill Confidential and Rachel Hoeffel's Quail (Clubbed Thumb), Zayd Dohrn's Reborning and Cory Hinkle's Cipher (SPF), Sheila Callaghan's Recess and Christopher Durang's Not a Creature Was Stirring (The Flea), Greg Keller's The Young Left (Cherry Lane), Sam Marks's Nelson (Partial Comfort). Other regional: Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation (Marin Theatre Company), Greg Kotis's Michael Von Siebenberg Melts Through the Floorboards and Jennifer Haley's Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom (Humana Festival), Sam Hunter's A Permanent Image (Boise Contemporary Theater), Jordan Harrison's Futura (Portland Center Stage), Len Jenkin's Limbo Tales (Todd Mountain), Tommy Smith and Gabriel Kahane's musical Caravan Man (Williamstown), Craig Lucas's Small Tragedy (The Playwrights Center), Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery (Empty Space Theatre), and several plays with Printer's Devil in Seattle, which he co-founded.
JOSHUA BERGASSE (Choreographer) served as the choreographer for NBC's musical drama "Smash" and choreographed several numbers for Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance." Bergasse has also choreographed productions of Bomb-Itty of Errors; Captain Louie at the Little Shubert and York Theaters; the national and international tours of Fame the Musical; West Side Story at the Stratford Festival, Barrington Stage Company, Fulton Theatre and North Carolina Theatre; Guys and Dolls, Carousel, and The World Goes Round at the Barrington Stage; La Cage Aux Folles, Beehive, and Cagney at the Riverside Theatre; Smokey Joe's Café at AMTSJ, the
Maltz Jupiter Theatre and the Riverside Theatre; Tommy, South Pacific and Crash Nation at the Cherry County Playhouse; and The Baker Dances at Indiana University. Bergasse's other credits as a choreographer include "American Songbooks: Fascinatin' Rhythm" and "The Face of Tisch" gala at Lincoln Center, BC/EFA's "Gypsy of the Year" opener for 2007 and 2008 at the New Amsterdam Theatre, and "Solo Pido - Bianca Marroquin in Concert" in Mexico City.