Lombardi Also Headed To Broadway
Broadway's Lombardi
Legendary Green Bay Packers’ coach Vince Lombardi isn’t just headed to the big screen, he’s also headed to Broadway.
Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser (Hair) will produce the play, which is scheduled to debut at the Circle in the Square Theater this fall.
Unlike the film Lombardi, which will center on Lombardi’s rivalry with Dallas Cowboys’ coach Tom Landry, the Broadway version will dramatize the public and private life of Lombardi, as well as colleagues and members of his family. The play is written by Eric Simonson and based on the book When Pride Still Mattered, by David Maraniss.
Dan Lauria, best known for playing Jack Arnold on The Wonder Years, will star as Lombardi. Robert De Niro is playing Lombardi in the screen adaptation.
The NFL has authorized the use of its logo, as well as music and film for the production. The league will also help promote the play.
“Football and Broadway are both iconic American forms of entertainment, and the N.F.L. is proud to bring these two unique and passionate audiences together under one roof. Lombardi’s charisma and coaching style were legendary – and intensely theatrical,” said Tracy Perlman, the league’s vice president for entertainment marketing and promotions.
The play, which will be directed by Thomas Kail (In The Heights), will begin previews at Circle in The Square’s in-the-round theater on Sept. 23 and open on Oct. 21. The show will also have a limited engagement from July 22 to July 28 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass.
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