An expanded version of the life story of veteran basketball coach and sports announcer Al McGuire is one of the season’s most entertaining shows at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. That’s a huge compliment to the playwright, Emmy-winning and Hall of Fame sports announcer Dick Enberg, and to the talents of Milwaukee-born, Tony-award winning actor Tony Crivello. He returns to his hometown after starring on Broadway in Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Phantom of the Opera, in addition to many other regional productions.
The Al McGuire bio has been kicking around for a few years, but, in part due to the 100th anniversary of Marquette’s basketball, it feels appropriate for the Milwaukee Rep to stage this production, according to Artistic Director Mark Clements.
Although playwright Engberg worked with McGuire for 20 years as a TV commentator, he starts the show with McGuire’s childhood in New York. McGuire grew up in a large family ruled by a strict father. The father strongly encouraged his sons to work at the “tough Irish bar” he owned. Crivello, who bears a striking resemblance to the young McGuire, tells of how he started by cleaning glasses at the bar. He learned from this school of hard knocks. Not much of a student, McGuire admits that he never got further than a seventh-grade reading level. However, that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the most colorful basketball coaches of his time (McGuire died of an illness in 2001). Most importantly to the local crowd, McGuire was the head coach of Milwaukee-based Marquette University’s men’s basketball team from 1964-1977. Crivello, who is astonishing in this 90-minute, one-man show, thankfully doesn’t resort to giving us a sugar-coated hero. McGuire was arrogant, bossy, rude, and determined in real life, and these qualities are fully evident onstage. “I wasn’t a saint,” Crivello says more than once. One can only imagine how a religious school such as the Catholic-run Marquette reacted to a profane, brassy character as McGuire.
Still, McGuire’s natural gift for showmanship and his willingness to seek out prospects (without any regard to race) made him somewhat ahead of his time. Color didn’t matter to him, he said. If McGuire had any prejudices, it was against the well-heeled. “If I saw a grass lawn in front of a prospect’s house, I knew that was a bad sign,” he says. He preferred arriving at a house abutting a concrete sidewalk, “preferably, a cracked one,” he reveals. He knew the boy inside would be looking for a chance to grasp a better life, and McGuire promised him advice and encouragement while earning his diploma.
Decades ago, Crivello had a chance to observe McGuire in action while the actor was a cheerleader on the Marquette cheerleading team. Crivello even capture’s McGuire’s New York accent, gestures and mannerisms.
Married women readers should note that this play is an excellent choice for persuading husbands to join them at the theater. In the play, McGuire spits out statistics and basketball lingo to delight any sports fan. There are onstage projections of crowds at the court, and the sound of cheering heightens the feeling that one is actually attending a game.
Kudos to sound designer Erin Paige for skillfully interweaving all the sounds that surrounded McGuire over the years, from church bells to cheering fans. Set and video designer Kristin Ellert-Sakaowski is a double threat, with archived photos of actual Marquette games showing on the background of a set that features gym lockers on one side and a dark-wood bar on the other. McGuire builds to the pinnacle of the coach’s career, when the Marquette Warriors beat unbelievable odds to win the championship. At the time, McGuire thought his shot at the finals was so slim that he brought only one suit along to the event.
Even those who never heard of Al McGuire will find something to enjoy in this funny, and sometimes poignant, play that brings one of Milwaukee’s best-known sports figures to life.
