Pygmalion Theatre Company Presents NEAR MINT Beginning This Month

Pygmalion Theatre Company continues its 2022/23 season with the world premiere of "Near Mint" by Utahn Lane Richins, directed by Barb Gandy, which runs from April 28 to May 13 at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts located at 138 West Broadway in downtown Salt Lake City.

"Cracker" Jack Patterson has given his life to baseball. He played for a decade as the third-string catcher on half the teams in the majors. He hosts a baseball call-in radio program. He owns a baseball card shop. Baseball has been good to him. But something is missing. With the help of his baseball scout best friend, the woman next door he's developed feelings for, a precocious 11-year looking for a father, and Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax, will Jack learn there is life outside of baseball? "Near Mint" is a comedy about living the game, loving the game, and leaving the game.

The show features Cal Beck, Natalie Keezer, Ali Lente, Tom Roche, Sasha Medura and Daisy Blake.

Richins spoke about the journey of the show from its inception to now.

"In the midst of COVID, I had the bright idea to return to school to finish my BA at the U of Utah after a 20-year interval," he said." I never intended to become a playwright...never considered it, really...but part of this journey was taking a playwriting course from Tim Slover. One of the directives of the course was to write a 60-page play. I wrote an adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's work, 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find,' and it was workshopped at the U the following semester. I dug that play, but it was a little cold for me. I needed to write it... to get the hang, to explore the unknown, to emerge from the shutdown, to grow. But it felt cold. I was hooked on writing, though, and made a goal of writing my next piece about something happy, or, at least, hopeful. I was missing hope, and I was missing light. I needed to write something that made me feel good. 'Near Mint' was born from this."

Richins also touched on why he loves baseball and why it inspired him to write this play.

"When I think back on my life, I think of the joy baseball has provided me," he said. "As a child, I'd go to the local little league field with my sister and partake on 25-cent snow cones. Once I was old enough to play, I did, and loved it. I wasn't ever really any good, but I loved it. It provided me with great joy in a sometimes difficult youth, giving me a soft lens to view a hard life with. As I grew older, baseball, and baseball cards, were a place to take refuge, somewhere to escape to. Somewhere constant and familiar. Nostalgic. Warm. Generational. I hoped to somehow impart these feelings. Or, at least, impart my feelings about these feelings."

He said he will be part of the rehearsal process, though he's studying now in Moscow, Idaho. "I will be attending a few rehearsals virtually, then I'll be around for dress rehearsals," he said. I'm very excited about the whole thing. The cast and creative team are incredibly talented, and I can't wait to see how they bring this to life."

Gandy spoke about why she wanted to direct the show.

"Lane first brought the play to Pygmalion over a year ago when he was working on it, just to get feedback on the script," she said. "And, it stood out to me. Last February, he asked that Pygmalion hold a staged reading of the play and that I direct the reading. I so like this script because not only is it well-crafted and multi-layered, it has wonderful, nuanced characters and tells relatable and heart-warming stories. I like these characters; I wanted to meet them and get to know them - and now I am."

She also talked about who the show will appeal to.

"One of the coolest things about the play is it can appeal to everyone!" Gandy said. "Baseball is the major backdrop - both Major League Baseball with its cache, and youth baseball in all its earnestness. There is a bit of romance, a bit of magic and mystery, and even a bit of country music."

Beck, who plays Patterson, said he has been involved in the show since the first reading last spring. "'Near Mint' was an appealing world to me because just like the majority of young kids across America, I had dreams of being a professional athlete," he said. "Taking upon this role might be the closest that I ever get to experiencing that. I also appreciate Pygmalion for picking up the show as it is quite the dynamite script."

He added: "My grandmother was a catcher for the first female professional baseball team, the Utah Shamrocks. My grandfather was a coach, which is how they met. Baseball, catcher specifically, is my family's heritage so to speak. Another grandfather was a pitcher in the league, mostly triple A, but he did pitch for the Chicago Cubs a bit."

Keezer, who plays Crawford, added: "I was involved in the 'Near Mint' reading over a year ago and it has been exciting to see how the play has evolved," she said. "I love the changes Lane has made to the script. Seeing the community of characters in this play get so excited about baseball brings me so much joy and it is beautiful to watch. I think most of us can relate to that 'thing' that truly gets us so excited, we can't imagine our lives without it. Whether it is sports or music or film... I think we all have something that just makes us smile, and this is what I love the most about this script."

She added of her character: "I have a special connection with Pepper. I admire her loyalty as a friend and her achievements as a woman in baseball. Her passion for the game...a passion every character shares...is what draws me most to the story."

Blake, who plays various characters in the show, said: "This play really couldn't be more different from 'Mountain Meadows,' which was Pygmalion's last show and the last piece I was involved in. I've had a great time researching this uplifting Valentine to baseball and I can't wait to start work!"

Gandy also touched on why she thinks the play is particularly relevent now.

"Right now, the public is bombarded every day, every hour, every minute with information and 'news' which may or may not be accurate, tragedy, division and rancor at every turn, and it is disheartening and exhausting," she said. "'Near Mint' will hopefully restore some faith in humanity, give the audience 90 minutes of warmth and rest. As one audience member said at the reading, 'this is the play I needed to see now.'"

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