Interview: Will Savarese in BULL DURHAM at Paper Mill Playhouse

Paper Mill Playhouse will  present Bull Durham, the first production of their 2025-2026 season. This new musical begins performances Thursday, October 2 and will run through Sunday, November 2.  The show is directed by Marc Bruni and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse.  It has been adapted by its original Academy Award-nominated screenwriter/director, Ron Shelton, with music and lyrics by Susan Werner.

Bull Durham brings the classic 1988 film to the stage. In the story, Veteran catcher “Crash” Davis is tasked with mentoring hotshot rookie pitcher “Nuke” LaLoosh, while baseball muse Annie must choose her seasonal protégé. This pitch-perfect musical delivers a winning blend of comedy, drama, and romance as passion, ambition, and America’s favorite pastime collide. 

Broadwayworld had the pleasure of interviewing Will Savarese who plays the starring role of Nuke in Bull Durham.  He gave us fascinating insights into his career and the upcoming show at Paper Mill Playhouse.

Will Savarese played left field for the New Rochelle Little League championship Yankees of ’09 before his retirement in 2010. Other credits include: National Tour: Frozen (Hans), Hairspray (Link Larkin); Regional: Romeo and Juliet (American Repertory Theater), Footloose (Sacramento Music Circus), All Shook Up (Goodspeed)

When did you first realize your penchant for the performing arts?

Around middle school I started making silly YouTube videos with my friends which slowly turned into a love for filmmaking as I got older. I think both through doing that and seeing my sister, Mara, perform all through my childhood, I eventually started to realize that what I liked best about it was the acting and figuring out how do something that made people feel things.

Have you had any particular mentors for your acting career?

I had an amazing teacher during my time at Baldwin Wallace, Laura Welsh Berg, who was just the best acting mentor our class could’ve asked for. She taught us everything from Shakespeare iambic pentameter to how to apply for union heath insurance. I just really connected with the way she taught, and the mix of practical and technical advice with our acting training really changed the game for me. 

(Photo Credit: Austin Ruffer)

We are thrilled that you are making your Paper Mill Playhouse debut in Bull Durham. How do you like working at this premier NJ theatre?

Everyone at Paper Mill has been so great while we’ve been rehearsing in NYC and I can’t wait to get to the theater later this month! Funnily enough, my first time at Paper Mill was this time two year ago when I got to see the first preview of The Great Gatsby (also directed by Marc Bruni) — so I’m excited to get to be on the other side of it this time!

You have shared an interest in baseball with your dad for a long time. What was his reaction to you playing the starring role as Nuke in Bull Durham?

He was stoked! Dad has been a coach, an umpire, and just an all-around sports guy for most of his life so it’s been great to be able to pick his brain about everything from famous 80s ball players to how I can look like I know how to pitch a 95 mile per hour fastball.

Why do you think the Bull Durham story resonates with audiences?

Although it’s set in the world of minor league baseball, I think this is a story for everyone. Whether you’re a musical theatre lover who doesn’t know which sportsball has the home runs, or a baseball lover who thinks a pirouette is a type of French pastry, the characters in Bull Durham are ones that anyone can recognize and connect to in their own life— I know the first time I got to read the script I immediately connected a lot of the themes in my own life— not because of experience in sports, but surprisingly more so through my experience of being an actor and the entertainment business. I’m confident that anyone coming to see the show will have a similar experience with this story.

It’s also just SUCH a fun time. I have so much trouble keeping a straight face in rehearsal because of how funny this cast is. The show will have you crying from laughing and crying from heart ache and crying from Carmen Cusack and Nik Walker’s beautiful soaring vocals, and sometimes that’s all you need for a couple hours of your day. It’s really rare that you get writing like Ron Shelton and Susan Werner’s that balance those things so well and I’m stoked for people to get to experience it.

How have you prepared for your role as Nuke in the show?

Nuke has become a really physical role in this version of the story, so just trying to stay in shape as much as I can and really working on the new skills I’m using in the show. Also, Ron Shelton wrote an amazing book a few years ago called “The Church of Baseball” about his life and experience making Bull Durham (the film) that a lot of us in the cast are reading. It’s been a real gift to have that insight as we’re going along and creating this new version of his story.

What would you like us to know about the cast and production team for Bull Durham?

I keep pinching myself because every day I find myself standing between two master performers, Carmen Cusack and Nik Walker, and across from master theatre makers like Marc Bruni, Josh Bergasse, and our whole creative team… and somehow being allowed to play and create this role with them?? Still trying to wrap my head around that. I’m learning so much every day. It’s my first time being a part of the development of an original show too and they’ve all taken such good care of me as I’m learning what this experience is like for the first time. Everyone is so incredibly supportive and down to play and it’s made this rehearsal process so fun and rewarding. I have no doubt that fun will translate to the stage as we get in up in the theater.

Tickets for Bull Durham and the shows in the upcoming season can be purchased by visiting HERE or by calling the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 973.376.4343. The Playhouse is located at 22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ  07041-1604.  

Lead Photo Credit: Courtesy of Paper Mill Playhouse