Bucks County Playhouse to Present Ray Didinger's TOMMY AND ME Beginning in May

Celebrating the overall success of The Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship season, Bucks County Playhouse will create and produce an all-new production of Ray Didinger's autobiographical play, "Tommy and Me," at the Playhouse in New Hope, May 19 to June 20. Nick Corley will direct. Casting and creative team will be announced soon. The new production will kick off Bucks County Playhouse's 2023 Season. A special pre-sale begins today. Tickets can be purchased at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org or by calling 215-862-2121.

"This year The Philadelphia Eagles captured the attention of the entire region with a truly exciting season. When I saw the "Tommy and Me" a year ago, I was so moved I wanted to mount our own production," says Alexander Fraser, Producing Director. "We hope to keep the spirit of the Eagles season going by revisiting this play and are excited to welcome football fans, and theater fans, back to the Playhouse this May."

"I'm delighted to bring the story of Tommy and Me back to the Bucks County Playhouse," says Ray Didinger, playwright and award-winning journalist. "We had a wonderful run there last spring. We had full houses almost every night with many in the audience wearing Eagles green, but the story of my friendship with Hall of Famer Tommy McDonald connected with even non-football fans. It's a story about little boys, their heroes and dreams coming true. Those are themes that will resonate with anyone."

Magical things can happen when a boy meets his sports idol. Legendary Sports journalist Ray Didinger's lifelong relationship with famously tough, Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver, Tommy McDonald, led both down an unexpected path - straight to Canton, OH and the National Football League's Hall of Fame. "Tommy and Me" is a valentine to the relationship between sports stars and fans everywhere.

Ray Didinger was the first print journalist inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. As a columnist for the Philadelphia Bulletin and Philadelphia Daily News, he was named Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year five times. In 1995, he won the Dick McCann Award for long and distinguished reporting on pro football, and his name was added to the writers' honor roll at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also won six Emmy Awards as a writer and producer for NFL Films. He has authored or co-authored eleven books including "One Last Read: The Collected Works of the World's Slowest Sportswriter" (Temple) and "The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies."

"Tommy and Me" tickets are available for the entire run, which starts May 19 and goes through June 20. Tickets can be purchased at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org or by calling 215-862-2121.

ABOUT BUCKS COUNTY PLAYHOUSE

Steeped in a theatrical history that stems back to its founding in 1939 by a roster of theatrical royalty, Bucks County Playhouse is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its 2012 re-opening and restoration. With more than 75,000 patrons walking through its doors every year, the Playhouse is leading the economic resurgence of New Hope and the surrounding community. In 2014, Tony Award-winning producers Alexander Fraser, Robyn Goodman and Josh Fiedler took the helm of the Playhouse, reclaiming its reputation of attracting Broadway and Hollywood artists. Playhouse productions of "Company" starring Justin Guarini, and William Finn's "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" were named by Wall Street Journal to its "Best of Theatre" list for 2015. In 2018, the Wall Street Journal again hailed the Playhouse and Artistic Associate Hunter Foster in its Best of the Year listings for its production of "42nd Street" and in 2019 labeled the Playhouse "one of the best regional theaters on the East coast." Box office records have been repeatedly broken by Signature Productions of "Steel Magnolias" directed by Marsha Mason, "Mamma Mia!" directed by John Tartaglia and "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story," "Million Dollar Quartet," "42nd Street," and "Guys & Dolls" (all directed by Hunter Foster). In 2021, the team developed and presented Candace Bushnell's "Is There Still Sex in the City?," which the Playhouse then partnered to move to New York. The creative teams who come to create new productions at the Playhouse are among the most talented artists working in the professional theatre today and relish the opportunity to work on the historic stage where Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, and Jessica Walter began their careers.

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