ChicagoCritic July 28, 2007
BASEBALL MAGIC IS BACK!… AT THE GOODMAN
If current sports scandals give you the blahs and real-time trips to the ballpark leave you broke and uninspired, there's a new diamond you should get to know – a little field of dreams where Cracker Jack is as sweet as ever and heroes play with heart, a place where baseball is…well, frankly, still magic. Sean Graney's inspired staging of Honus and Me, the fourth production from Chicago Children's Theatre, now playing at The Goodman's Owen Theatre, brings the childhood thrill of baseball to life for young and old alike. It is a nostalgic and sentimental stroll through innocence, a sojourn along a path where a kid can love baseball…and theatre.
Honus and Me recounts the supernatural encounter of struggling little-leaguer Joey Stoshack with his quite real pal, legendary Pirate's slugger Honus Wagner. Relative newcomer Tim Rock, as Joey, steals the show among a top-notch cast that includes Eric Slater as Honus Wagner and Amy J. Carle and Sean Cooper as Joey's estranged parents. Joey's adventure begins with his discovery of the most valuable baseball card in the world – a 1909 T-206 Honus Wagner (of course) – while cleaning the attic of a very, very, very elderly neighbor, Miss Young (who else?), played by veteran Jane Alderman. Neither the family's struggles in life nor Joey's struggles on the field can slow this funny, fast moving story. Director Graney's staging shuttles the audience back and forth from present to distant past as effortlessly as Rock's perfect timing peels open Joey's captivating adolescent brain.
Everything about this production delights. From the moment audiences take their seats in Todd Rosenthal's masterpiece ballpark set, they are cajoled into loving Honus and Me. Well before curtain, the players take the field to warm up, throwing round the horn and animating younger audience members as they engage them in the action with games of catch all the way to the upper decks. Hot dog vendors come round with programs; there are even some baseball card replicas going round. Not a detail is missed, and mind you, this is before the show even begins.
Once the players really take the field, it's a mesmerizing hour-and-fifteen-minute incantation of honesty, perseverance, and integrity – with humor for all. In fact, the strongest recommendation for Steven Dietz' script is the breadth of the humor. It plays as well for adults as it plays for kids and that includes even the most avid baseball aficionados. One precaution: the show is a bit long for very young children. On opening night there were a couple of little ones who were a bit slouchy near the end, but from nine or ten years up, they were on the edge of their seats. Honus and Me isn't merely a children's theatre hit…it's an out-of-the-park home run.
Highly Recommended
Randy Hardwick