In a post-performance talk on opening night, Milwaukee Repertory Theater artistic director Mark Clements shared a bit of background about the intense negotiations involved in obtaining the rights to Lombardi. The New York producers originally wanted to stage the Midwest premiere in Chicago (Bears country, for all you football fans). Horrified, Clements and other Milwaukee Rep administrators petitioned for the show’s opening at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Wisconsin’s undisputed flagship theater. After months of discussion, the producers agreed.
This is especially fitting, as an earlier version of Lombardi played several years ago at Milwaukee’s Next Act Theater. David Cecsarini played the role of Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. Then as now, the show is set mostly in 1965. It was the year Lombardi took his first professional coaching position in Green Bay. It is interesting to note that last year marks the 40th anniversary of the legendary coach’s death.
The show recently closed (May 2011) a seventh-month Broadway run at Circle in the Square Theater. Dan Lauria (from TV’s “The Wonder Years”) starred as Vince Lombardi; Judith Light was Tony nominated for her performance as Marie, Vince’s long-suffering and hard-drinking wife. Not surprisingly, the show attracted a fair number of sports fans as well as regular theatergoers.
Since leaving Broadway, Lombardi has undergone minor script changes and also gained a powerful new ending. Another change is the addition of ensemble members, mainly football players and a half-dozen of cheerleaders. They contribute added enthusiasm to this already energized show.
It is inevitable, though probably unfair, to compare Broadway’s Dan Lauria to that of Lee Ernst, who plays Lombardi in the Milwaukee version. Lauria is built like a refrigerator and has large, workmanlike facial features. He more closely resembles Lombardi than Ernst, a member of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater resident company. Lauria also has a distinctive growl that he uses effectively to convey Lombardi’s mood. Ernst just hollers – usually at the same loud pitch. Lauria conveys a far more subtle emotional range, using a wide range of facial and physical gestures to communicate Lombardi’s mood. Ernst seems afraid to break out of Lombardi’s standard poses.
His performance may seem wooden at times, but overall, Ernst gives an impressive imitation of “St. Vince” (as he is sometimes called by his legion of Wisconsin fans). Keep in mind (as Ernst certainly does) that many people in the audience may have personally known Lombardi or at least saw him stomping up and down the sidelines at Green Bay’s stadium. They will not be disappointed by Lee’s impersonation of this famous character.
The interaction between Ernst and Lombardi’s wife, played by well-known Milwaukee actress Angela Iannone, is vitally important to the play’s success. Marie Lombardi was far more of an influence on her husband than was generally acknowledged at the time. In terms of Vince’s legendary temper, Marie could dish it out as good as she could take it. She was every inch the faithful wife, though the burden of raising their two children basically alone took its toll.
Marie was an Easterner who longed for the glamour of New York. When a young writer from “Look” magazine (Gerard Neugent) arrives to do a story about Lombardi, Marie is wistful about his references to life on the East Coast. Iannone impressively conveys the life of this lonely, out-of-place woman. It is a plum role, and Iannone makes the most of it.
Neugent, too, rises to the challenge of playing Michael, a wet-behind-the-ears reporter. As the son of a former newspaperman whom Vince knew, Michael is favored by the media-hating Lombardi. Later in the show, the two have a climactic falling out. Lombardi succeeds in putting the reporter in his place. In one of the few scenes in which Lombardi is absent, Michael chats informally with a few of Lombardi’s players in a bar. Reese Madigan portrays the charming, confident lady killer, Paul Hornung. Madison demonstrates Hornung’s well-known ability to get himself out of a jam both on and off the field. Dramatic, historic footage of the real Hornung’s athletic ability is smartly incorporated into the production.
Two of the other players, Arthur Lazalde as the boneheaded Jim Taylor and Cameron Knight as the savvy Dave Robinson, one of the first African-American professional football players, also give excellent performances.
In the finale, the play’s cheering fans are finally silent. This moment, so wonderfully dramatic in its simplicity, is a fitting tribute to this great former coach. The set has been substantially reconfigured from Broadway’s in-the-round staging. It works well. It is unfussy enough for the Lombardi’s living room (which appears and disappears via an onstage elevator), and “sporty” enough to convey the excitement of Green Bay’s playing field. Packers fans and regular theatergoers alike will have plenty to cheer about when they see this show.
