Theatre Exile is Announces the Return Engagement of TOMMY & ME

Theatre Exile is proud to remount, Tommy & Me, by Ray Didinger. Hailed by Mark Cofta during its premiere as "...unabashedly sentimental and sincere..." Tommy & Me is autobiographical and recounts a seminal time in Ray Didinger's life as he helps his life-long hero, Tommy McDonald reach his goal of getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tommy & Me begins Thursday, August 3, 2017 and opens Friday, August 4, 2017. All performances are being held at FringeArts, 140 N. Columbus Blvd.

Ray Didinger was delighted that Theatre Exile decided to bring back Tommy & Me after its successful run last summer. When asked about this Didinger said, "I heard from so many people who didn't get to see the play last summer and hoped they would have another chance. Now they do. What is really gratifying, though, is hearing people say, 'Yeah, I saw the play and I want to see it again and this time I'm bringing my dad or my buddy or whomever.' What pleased me the most was hearing from those who saw the play and said, 'I'm not a sports fan' or 'I don't even like football' but this story touched my heart. It's a story that makes people feel good and that's a beautiful thing."

Didinger describes Theatre Exile as Tommy & Me's Franklin Field. It's home. "The folks at Theatre Exile -- I'm talking about Joe Canuso, Deb Block and Bruce Graham -- were the ones who believed in this story from the beginning. Everyone in the production team became as emotionally invested in the story as I was. I knew if Tommy & Me would ever be performed, it would be performed here."

Tommy & Me had its first public reading in May 2015 by Theatre Exile. The World Premiere was also produced by Theatre Exile, Philadelphia, PA, under Deborah Block, Producing Artistic Director in 2016.

Ray Didinger was a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Bulletin and Philadelphia Daily News for three decades. He was namEd Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year five times. He was the first print journalist inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. He won six Emmy Awards as a writer and producer at NFL Films. His documentary on the 1960 Eagles championship season won a Telly Award in 2011. He was the 1995 recipient of the Dick McCann Award for long and distinguished reporting on pro football. He is a 2017 inductee to the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. Ray is a graduate of Temple University and a member of the School of Communications Hall of Fame. He has authored 11 books. He is a talk show host on WIP radio and a football analyst on the Comcast Sports Network.

Joe Canuso is the Founding Artistic Director of Theatre Exile and has directed many of their shows including Lost Girls,Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Annapurna, A Behanding in Spokane, That Pretty Pretty, Mr. Marmalade, Red Light Winter, The Gin Game, Burkie, and Belmont Avenue Social Club, as well as the world premieres of RIZZO, Last Call, Amputation Nation, Cryptome, Big Blonde, Live at the Apollo Diner,The Frankenharry Plays, and Tommy And Me by Ray Didinger. He was nominated by the Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play three times and was named Best Director in 2009 by The Philadelphia Weekly for Blackbird. He was nominated as Best Director for a Phindie Award for The North Plan in 2013 and won in 2015 for Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? He was part of Exile's Barrymore Award winning ensemble for Glengarry Glen Ross in 2007. And he has performed internationally in London, Prague and throughout Italy.

Tommy McDonald was born in Roy, New Mexico. He was a wide receiver who was a third-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1957. An All-America choice at Oklahoma, he won the Maxwell Award in 1956 as college football's player of the year. A six-time Pro Bowl selection (1959-1963 and 1966), McDonald played seven seasons with the Eagles (1957-1963), one with the Dallas Cowboys (1964), two with the Los Angeles Rams (1965-1966), and one each with the Atlanta Falcons (1967) and the Cleveland Browns (1968). Now 82, McDonald currently lives in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Graham began his career as a playwright at the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays (PFT) in 1984 with Burkie. Graham became playwright-in-residence at PFT and later served two years as Artistic Director. He has received grants from the Pew Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and was a past winner of the Princess Grace Foundation Statuette. He won the Rosenthal Prize for Coyote On A Fence. He has won consecutive Barrymore Awards for Best New Play (Something Intangible and Any Given Monday) and Chicago's Jefferson Award for The Outgoing Tide. He is the first American playwright to be invited two years in a row to the Galway Arts Festival, which produced The Outgoing Tide and Stella and Lou. Graham is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He teaches playwriting and film courses at Drexel University. In the past he has taught graduate level playwriting at University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, and Rutgers. He has conducted playwriting workshops in high schools and colleges across the country.

Cast and Design Team
The cast features Simon Kiley (Tommy & Me) as Young Ray, Matt Pfeiffer (Tommy & Me, A Behanding in Spokane,Hunter Gatherers, Mr. Marmalade, Red Light Winter, Killer Joe) as Ray, Ned Pryce (Tommy & Me) as Young Tommy, and Tom Teti (Tommy & Me) as Tommy.

The artistic team includes Set Designer and Lighting Designer Thom Weaver (Buzzer, Tommy & Me, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Whale, Annapurna, Knives in Hens, The Aliens), Costumer Designer Katherine Fritz (Tommy & Me, Rizzo, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Annapurna, The North Plan), Sound Designer and Original Music Michael Kiley (Tommy & Me, The Invisible Hand, Rizzo, The Aliens) Props Master Flora Vassar (Buzzer, Guards at the Taj,Tommy & Me), Video/Projection Designer Michael Long (Tommy & Me), and Script Consultant Bruce Graham(Tommy & Me).

Comcast SportsNet Tailgate Party
Thursday, August 3, 5pm
August 3 ticket holders to Tommy & Me are invited to join Theatre Exile for free food, a cash bar, and raffle and door prizes before the show. There will be a post-show discussion with Ray Didinger, CSN hosts, director Joe Canuso, and the cast.

Post-Show Discussions

Post-show discussions will be happening after each performance excluding opening night on August 4 with the following schedule.

Thursday, August 3, 7pm performance
Ray Didinger, Michael Barkann from Comcast Sports Net, director Joe Canuso, and the cast

Sunday, August 6, 3pm performance
Jack McCallum, Sports Illustrated

Sunday, August 6, 7pm performance
Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down

Monday, August 7, 7pm performance
TBA

Wednesday, August 9, 7pm performance
Vince Papale, former Eagle and subject of the 2006 film Invincible

Thursday, August 10, 7pm performance
TBA

Friday, August 11, 7pm performance

Big Daddy Graham, comedian and WIP host

Saturday, August 12, 3pm performance
TBA

Saturday, August 12, 7pm performance
John Boruk, Comcast Sports Net

Sunday, August 13, 3pm performance
Amy Fadool, Comcast Sports Net

Wednesday, August 16, 7pm performance
Joe Decamera and Jon Ritchie, WIP midday hosts

Thursday, August 17, 7pm performance
TBA

Friday, August 18, 7pm performance
Marc Farzetta, host of 700 Level, Comcast Sports Net

Saturday, August 19, 3pm performance
TBA

Saturday, August 19, 7pm performance
TBA

Sunday, August 20, 3pm performance
Glen Macnow, WIP host

Ticket prices range from $35-$50. Ticket are available at Theatre Exile's Box Office by calling 215-218-4022; visiting theatreexile.org; coming to the Theatre Exile Administrative Office, located at 2329 South 3rd Street on the third floor; or arriving to the Box Office for Tommy & Me an hour before each performance, located at 140 N. Columbus Boulevard.

Theatre Exile is a nonprofit theater company dedicated to enhancing the cultural experiences of Philadelphians through the staging of works that engage the imagination. We produce challenging plays that explore the complexities of the human condition and contain a sense of Philadelphia grit and passion. We strive to reach new theater audiences throughout the community by presenting both new works as well as established plays that are often reinterpreted in original ways.

We believe in freedom of expression formulated through innovation, exploration and provocation. At the same time, we provide a safe and creative environment in which local artists can grow, experiment and find their own voice.

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