Eric Simonson’s Magic/Bird is an exciting exploration of the relationship between two of basketball’s greatest: Magic Johnson and Larry Bird from 1979 to 1992. It’s an exhilarating, very theatrical trip — a sharp integration of actors and film of the actuals. The play has a lot of charm and humanity as we see comparisons of the parents and families of the two men from working-class beginnings and their gradual, slowly-growing friendship.
Kevin Daniels is a strong, believable Magic, but Tug Coker’s Bird is a surprise. He plays him as a taciturn, almost simple-minded, mono-syllable-speaking man, while the actual Bird (as I saw when the two men were interviewed on Letterman a short time ago) has a wry sense of humor which he has no trouble expressing. But it works theatrically. Coker gives us lots of smiles as he does his Gary Cooper “Yup” style delivery.
Peter Scolari, Deirdre O’Connell, Francois Battiste and Robert Manning each play several roles quite distinctly, projections by Jeff Sugg are fast-moving injections of real events, and the whole shebang, clearly directed by Thomas Kail, is lots of fun whether you follow basketball or not.
