Photo Flash: Human Race Theatre Co. Presents ROUNDING THIRD

Take two diametrically different coaches and stick them together running their sons' team, and you've got a recipe for bad baseball - and great comedy. "It's a modern day Odd Couple," says Tim Lile, director of the upcoming Human Race Theatre Company production of Richard Dresser's Rounding Third, "with varying views on parenting and about male relationships as they develop in the sporting world."

Or maybe how they unravel.

Macho baseball buff Don is the experienced coach of the Little League team of which his son is the star. He gets stuck with assistant coach Michael, who is, of all things, Canadian. Michael's son is, well, uh, a nice kid, the kind you hope never gets the ball hit to him, and Michael's own sports background is limited to, well, uh, curling.

Don is so win-at-all-costs he'd make Vince Lombardi wince. Michael just wants everybody to get a trophy.

Don is played by Human Race veteran Jake Lockwood, perhaps best recognized for his work with Lile in A Tuna Christmas. Michael is Human Race Resident Artist Brian McKnight, who last appeared in The Loft in a very different baseball play, Take Me Out.

How the two go head to head, and how they change through the season, brings on an exploding scoreboard of laughs, whether from Don's desperate attempt to call back a runner headed for second, or Michael's equally desperate attempts to get all the equipment back into the bag.

Lile says just how the characters evolve and the laughs develop is part of the rehearsal process, " I'm an actor who directs, so I trust actors implicitly and allow their work to round out the shoe. We might end up bringing something into the play that hasn't been there before."

Rounding Third definitely has something the third-floor Loft stage hasn't seen before. Don's a plumber, and his full-size van gets involved in the show, a problem in elevator management for Technical Director Scott Kimmins. Others behind the stage include Scenic Director Tamara L. Honesty, Costume Designer Laine June Marr, Lighting Director John Rensel and Properties Manager Heather Powell.

Rounding Third will have a preview night March 11, with Opening Night March 12 and performances through March 28. A special addition to the run is a Saturday Baseball Matinee at 2pm March 27, which will have incentives for baseball and softball coaches, umpires, players (13 and over, due to language), and fans who wear team jerseys and other gear.

Tickets are available by visiting www.humanracetheatre.org, by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or toll-free (888) 228-=3630, or at the Schuster Center box office.

Photo Credit: Scott. J. Kimmins

 

 

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