Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting at Cleveland Foundation Jelliffe Theatre at Karamu House

Set in a New York hotel room in the spring of 1947, Ed Schmidt's play imagines a secret, high-stakes summit on the eve of breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier. Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey summons four iconic Black figures of the era—heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, singer and political activist Paul Robeson, legendary dancer Bill Bojangles Robinson, and a young Jackie Robinson—to solicit their public support before dropping a baseball bombshell. The play confronts the complex cost of integration, weighing the demise of the Negro Leagues and the risks of tokenism against the demand for absolute equality. Directed by Jimmie Woody, the cast includes Ananias J. Dixon, Bryant Lyles, Avery LaMar Pope, Drew Pope, and Corin B. Self.