BWW Previews: NOW PLAYING THIRD BASE FOR THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS…BOND, JAMES BOND at Midnight Company At The Chapel

The Midnight Company will present the premiere of the full version of NOW PLAYING THIRD BASE FOR THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS...BOND, James Bond.

The one-man play is written and performed by Midnight Artistic Director Joe Hanrahan. It was performed in a shortened version at the 2018 St. Louis Fringe Festival, and audiences responded enthusiastically and critics raved. Snoops Theatre Thoughts said "A delightful show that's part personal memoir, part history lesson, part nostalgia, and all fascinating. A difficult show to describe but what it is is excellent." Limelight said "Hanrahan jumps from omniscient narrator to 15-year old movie fanatic to baseball and theatre historian, the audience hanging on every word. The Cardinals are the talk of the town again. This show should be the talk of the town, too!"

Hanrahan said, "There's never been a play we've done that's received such enthusiastic, visceral reaction, due, surely, to the St. Louis history in the show. Not to mention Bond and baseball. At the Fringe, productions are limited to one-hour playing time, and this new version will allow us to incorporate new material that should hopefully make the show ever more entertaining and informative."

NOW PLAYING THIRD BASE FOR THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS...BOND, James Bond concerns a teen-age boy in 1964. JFK's assassination still casts a pall on the nation. The Beatles' emergence in February of '64 starts to lighten the mood. The Cardinals continue the good times in St. Louis with a mad dash toward the pennant. And when a new movie hero hits the screens that summer, a bunch of boys on a baseball field have their first theatre experience, when one of their gang offers a spirited one-man show of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. Throughout, the playwright draws links between what's happened and happening - from JFK to James Bond; from segregation in St. Louis to segregation in baseball's Southern Leagues and at Florida stadiums where The Beatles played; WWII veterans from hardcore British film production crews to JFK hit squads; from the first cave man who stood up by the fire to the theatre musings of Peter Brook...most of it swirling in front of the eyes of a young boy, most of it sharp memories of the time it was.

Shane Signorino will direct the show as he did at The Fringe. Kevin Bowman will serve as Production and Lighting Designer, Michael B. Perkins will design video support and Elizabeth Henning, who's worked with Midnight on several productions, will be Stage Manager. There will also be a concurrent exhibit in The Chapel lobby of memorabilia from 1950's/60's baseball, presented by George Venegoni.


Hanrahan has acted, written and directed for The Midnight Company, appearing in 2020's only live pandemic production, SEX, DRUGS, ROCK & ROLL and currently in HERE LIES HENRY. In 2019 for Midnight he was seen in POPCORN FALLS, Charlie Johnson READS ALL OF PROUST, and in his scripts of PATIENT #47 (at The Crawl) and A MODEL FOR MATISSE (which received a Theatre Critics Circle nomination for Best New Play). Last year, before the pandemic, he was also in the casts of Metro Theater's GHOST and SATE's Aphra Behn FESTIVAL.

Opening July 8, 2021, and running through July 25, 2021 at The Chapel, 6238 Alexander Drive, 63105. There will be performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, with a matinee on Sunday, July 25, at 2pm. Tickets are $20, will be on sale at MetroTix.com.

For more information visit midnightcompany.com.