Review Roundup: Primary Stages' BRONX BOMBERS

Primary Stages presents the World Premiere of Bronx Bombers, written and directed by Tony Award nominee Eric Simonson (Broadway's Lombardi). The production opened last night, Tuesday, October 8, and features Francois Battiste (Broadway's Magic/ Bird) as Reggie Jackson and Elston Howard, Chris Henry Coffey (Off-Broadway's Water by the Spoonful) as Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dawes (Broadway's Lombardi) as Mickey Mantle/Thurman Munson, Christopher Jackson (Broadway's In the Heights, Memphis) as Derek Jeter, Wendy Makkena (Broadway's Side Man) as Carmen Berra, Keith Nobbs (Broadway's Lombardi) as Billy Martin, Richard Topol (Broadway'sThe Normal Heart, The Merchant of Venice) as Yogi Berra, John Wernke (Broadway's The Lyons) as Lou Gehrig, and C.J. Wilson (Happy Now? at Primary Stages, Broadway's The Big Knife,Glengarry Glen Ross) as Babe Ruth. Bronx Bombers runs through October 19 at Primary Stages at The Duke on 42nd Street.

Ruth. Berra. DiMaggio. Jeter. The New York Yankees has never had a shortage of star players. In this world premiere from the creative team behind Broadway's Lombardi and the director of the Primary Stages hit String of Pearls, Bronx Bombers examines how baseball's most storied franchise has always remained focused on maintaining a great team, even when dealing with some of the game's most iconic and tempestuous personalities. How do they do it? Well, as Yogi always said, "You can observe a lot by watching."

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Michael Dale, BroadwayWorld: Baseball fans will certainly get a lot more of the subjects being referenced, but the main theme of the members of an institution trying to uphold its untarnished reputation despite cracks in the veneer is easily recognized. Still Bronx Bombers keeps rehashing the same point in different variations; heavy on sentiment, but thin on content.

Daniel M. Gold, NY Times: "Bronx Bombers" arrives as the club's latest era, that of the Core Four, is on the wane. So a reflection on how the Yankees assemble such great teams would be timely. Instead, the play is no more than a schmaltzy sketch of athletes sitting around congratulating themselves. You wonder if the Yankees organization, which worked with the production, is pleased. Is this kitschy pap really what the Evil Empire has come to?

Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: This tale is inside baseball. But you don't have to know what an RBI is to understand a story about heroes and history. Or to savor the terrific key turn by Topol as the metaphor-mangling Yogi. Topol replaced Joe Pantoliano, who quit at the last minute. In theater and baseball, a walk can be followed by a home run.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: The show is for fans, and its tone never wavers from awe-struck and reverential - kinda like Yogi when all the pinstripe legends drop by his living room to feast on the hors d'oeuvres his wife made, inspired by the Stork Club. Controversy? Fuhgeddaboutit - there's no negativity here. An epilogue set after the last game at the old ballpark might as well take place in heaven. The closest we get to juicing is when Jackson orders OJ from room service. All told, you'd never guess the Yankees' other nickname is the Evil Empire. That could change, though, if the play ever runs in Boston.

Davod Cote, Time Out NY: Bronx Bombers touches on high points of 20th-century Yankee history, although it hasn't been so much plotted as researched and pitched to guys who get a lump in the throat from seeing Lou Gehrig shake hands with Derek Jeter. It begins in 1977, with coach Yogi Berra (Richard Topol, adorably gruff and spouting Yogi's pearls of pseudo-wisdom) convening a peace talk between rabid manager Billy Martin (Keith Nobbs, intense) and narcissistic Reggie Jackson (François Battiste, supercool).

Matt Windman, amNY: Fans are bound to have strong opinions on the extent to which the actors physically resemble The Players, but they're bound to enjoy the play. While hardly a masterpiece, "Bronx Bombers" is like a tenderhearted frolic through memory lane with a touch of surrealism and a lot of personality. Simonson, who directed the play himself, provides a serviceable in-the-round staging that ought to easily fit into Circle in the Square should it transfer to Broadway. And let's face it: Seeing actors portray famous Yankees can be a guilty pleasure, even for New Yorkers with only a passing familiarity with baseball. These guys are genuine pop icons.

Robert Jahn, NBC New York: Of the roundly talented performers, Topol (stepping in late for Joe Pantoliano, who departed due to "creative differences") stands out, for his endearing way with Berra's era-bridging legacy, even as he's forced to repeat one too many of those Yogi-isms. As both Jackson and Howard, Battiste seems to be having the most fun, strutting around like a peacock despite not quite being sized like a ballplayer. Makkena, as Carmen Berra, is a worthy partner to her husband.

Fern Siegel, Huffington Post: Bombers is a eulogy for the past, as well as a critique of present-day play. That duality is realized when Yogi meets his dream team -- Lou Gehrig (John Wernke), Babe Ruth (C.J. Wilson), Joe DiMaggio (Chris Henry Coffey), and Mickey Mantle (Bill Dawes) -- only to discover that resentment and grandstanding, respect and mistakes are as much a part of baseball as home runs.

Jonathan Mandell, New York Theatre: This is the third in a series of sports plays that Simonson has written for producers Fran Kirmser (credited as "conceiver") and Tony Ponturo ("commissioner"). All of them have been well-acted; all smartly marketed - the producers partner with the sports themselves (in this case Major League Baseball and the New York Yankees )- and each of them close to dramatically inert.