Newman Joins NATIONAL PASTIME Line Up for Hall of Fame 5/1

"Guiding Light" actor and two time Emmy nominee Robert Newman joins the cast of the original baseball musical National Pastime when it plays May 1st in the Grandstand Theater at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The show, with book by Tony Sportiello and music/lyrics by Al Tapper, plans a Broadway run in the spring of 2011.

The musical tells the story of WZBQ, a radio station on the verge of bankruptcy in 1933 Iowa. To spark ratings, the station re-invents a long-defunct local baseball team and WZBQ begins to broadcast phony baseball games as though real. Trouble ensues when the team plays TOO well, and Life Magazine suddenly wants to do a story on their exploits.

Sportiello's play Contract Time was produced at the Hall of Fame in 1992. Tapper's credits include Sessions and An Evening at the Carlyle. Robert Newman recently played Dr. Pete Peterson for ten months in Tapper's musical Sessions, which ran 350 performances at the Algonquin Theater.

Tom Herman will direct the presentation at the Hall of Fame with David Wolfson providing musical direction.

The 200-seat Grandstand Theater is located at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown. Visit community.baseballhall.org. For more information, please contact 212 730-4664.

Visit www.nationalpastimethemusical.com or visit our Facebook Page at NATIONAL PASTIME.