BWW Reviews: Desert Stages' LOMBARDI Scores A Touchdown

Before moneyball and analytics transformed professional sports and steroids, yoga, and team psychologists transformed the players, football was strictly a visceral grind and tackle game. Its heroes were rough and tumble grunts who were intoxicated by their sport and driven by an almost religious zeal to win. Such was Vince Lombardi, the Brooklyn born coach of the Green Bay Packers who spurred his beloved team to victories in the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968.

Eric Simonson's Lombardi zeroes in on the pivotal moments of Lombardi's life prior to his ascent to legendary status ~ the zone between aspiration and football Olympus. And Desert Stages Theatre's production, directed by Mark-Alan C. Clemente is a surefire touchdown, featuring inspired performances by Timothy Pittman as Lombardi and Dyana Carroll as the coach's stalwart wife Marie.

In 1958, Lombardi is uncertain about his future and pondering a career in banking. It'll take a surprise phone call from Wisconsin to springboard him to the sanctity of Lambeau Field. Six years later, as his team is on the verge of football history, Lombardi is designing strategy, delivering fiery exhortations to his team, chugging Pepto Bismol, and hosting a young reporter, Michael McCormick (Chase Reynolds) from Look Magazine, who wants to find out what makes the coach tick and win.

Discovering the answers to the scribe's questions doesn't come easy. Mr. Simonson's script allows for Lombardi to appear periodically as a series of punctuations. Mr. Pittman delivers a powerhouse performance, but what nuances might be revealed in the coach's character and demeanor are overshadowed by the monochromatic bellowing of a raging bull. It requires the voices of others to depict the kinder gentler side of the complex man.

Indeed, McCormick gains the most salient insights about the coach, his strengths and his vulnerabilities from Marie and the players. Especially from Marie, whose salty, sassy, and sensitive character is delightfully etched by the stage-smart Ms. Carroll.

With all the hype surrounding Super Bowl XLIX and all the controversy nagging at the NFL, Lombardi is a refreshing and entertaining reflection on another perhaps simpler time and the man whom McCormick concludes is "the most imperfect, perfect man" he has ever met.

Lombardi runs through March 15th.