Playwright: Steven Dietz based upon Dan Gutman's novel. At: Chicago Children's Theater at Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn. Phone: 866-811-4111; $25-$35. Runs through: March 27
Sequels in theater rarely succeed. But in the case of Chicago Children's Theatre's Jackie and Me, a duplicated formula definitely lives up to the original.
Chicago Children's Theatre staged Steven Dietz's adaptation of Dan Gutman's children's novel Honus and Me to great acclaim in 2007. Now Dietz is back adapting another of Gutman's formulaic books where a kid travels in time to meet great baseball players.
In the case of the 1999 novel Jackie and Me, it's the color-barrier-smashing baseball icon Jackie Robinson who now gets justifiably beatified in Dietz's new stage adaptation. Like in Honus and Me, young audiences learn American history and important life lessons from the experiences of Joey (an amiable and wide-eyed Tyler Ross) who travels back in time via magical player cards to meet with and befriend historical baseball players.
The twist this time around is that Joey becomes an African-American kid in the process, so Joey gets to experience the indignities of segregation in 1947 America firsthand.
Now some audiences may grumble about director Derrick Sanders' decision to keep Ross as Joey instead of rotating in an African-American actor. But it's a smart choice for consistency's sake, and to highlight just how unreasonable the racist invective that was hurled at anyone (no matter what color) who was brave enough to challenge America's ingrained racism.
Though Sanders doesn't have the benefit of a thrust stage (like director Sean Graney had with Honus and Me at the Goodman Theatre), he works well with set designer Ian Zywica to incorporate baseball hallmarks like bleachers and rotating outfield walls to move the story along.
As Dietz's Robinson, Kamal Angelo Bolden seems a tad stiff, playing more of the baseball icon rather than a man thrust into a history-making moment. (This stiffness also applies to Tracey N. Bonner as Robinson's wife, Rachel, rather than her role as Joey's strict history teacher.) But this fault also lies with Dietz, who understandably simplifies things for younger audiences.
The rest of the cast gets more freedom rotating through numerous roles, ranging from historical figures like Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (a brash Charles Stransky) to fictional ones like Joey's dad (Ron Rains in a role originally created by Sean Cooper, who is back to play the eccentric card shop owner Flip among many other characters this time around).
Patrick de Nicola is great in his two roles of Joey tormentors, while Vanessa Greenway does what she can with the small role of Joey's mom.
Instead of playing during baseball season, Chicago Children's Theatre has instead strategically programmed Jackie and Me during Black History Month. It's definitely a welcome addition that is both eminently entertaining as it is educational.
