Baseball & Theatre

Mark Oristano, whom you may remember as Senator Fipp in our production of Urinetown last January, is serving in an unusual position on the upcoming Take Me Out. He is listed as a Baseball Consultant, but what he is really doing is sharing his experiences and expertise from a 30 year career as a sportcaster in the region with the cast to help authenticate their performances.

Mark had his first rehearsal with the cast this past weekend, and we've asked him to share some of his observations from trying to make actors look like professional ball players.

Mark writes, "Actors and athletes have some things in common. We both perform in front of somewhat judgmental crowds. We both work to perfect physical moves, practicing them over and over until they look like second nature. And we both make huge amounts of money. (Well, two out of three ain't bad!)

The cast of TAKE ME OUT is, for the most part, a very physically fit bunch, with some good sports backgrounds. As I have a foot in both the sports and theatre worlds, (after 30 years as a sportscaster in Dallas and 22 years as a professional actor) it's my job to make the physicality of TAKE ME OUT at least resemble Major League Baseball.

Basic moves may seem subtle. But take pitching. I've to work with both Clay Yocum and Lanny Joon to get them to understand the way the arms have to rotate around the center of the chest like spokes in a wheel; how to use the leverage from the hips, through the chest, into the shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers to get every MPH you can out of your "pitch."

After my first two rehearsals with the "team" I can say they are well on their way toward creating the illusion they are after. And with a couple more weeks to go, I"m hoping that when you sit in your box seat for TAKE ME OUT, you'll completely lose yourself in the magic, and you'll hope that Clay's fastball isn't really headed toward you."