Lombardi isn’t just for the football fan
Even after all the hype when it first premiered on Broadway, I still doubted the enjoyability of Lombardi for a non-football enthusiast like myself. Broadway isn’t really the place to pull in a lot of jersey wearers and people who think that Sunday Funday consists of pigskin and beer instead of mimosas and overpriced eggs, I still figured it to be a ploy though. Aurora Theatre proved me wrong and once again put out a New York worthy performance in little ol’ Lawrenceville.
Aurora Theatre takes on big shows and constantly never leaves a single detail unperfected. It goes to show what a talented and devoted team will do to theatre. Under the direction of their new associate artistic director, Justin Anderson, Lombardi lived up to the perfection of casting, beautiful backdrops, and knowing what their audiences are going to find enjoyment in across the board. It is a tale of a football legend, but it’s about a man, a marriage, a family beyond the normal terms. It’s about opening doors, letting people in, and being a bonafide and unapologetic tough ass.
Lombardi (played by Bart Hansard) was not known as being a generous man by any means. He loved football, was good at producing winners, and neglected all other aspects of his life, even his health, for this sport. Lombardi takes you through a week with Lombardi as a reporter, Michael McCormick (played by Chris Moses) tries to get to the bottom of who this man really was and what made him so great at what he did. Lombardi is trying to get to the championship during the 1965 season and is pushing his players Jim Taylor (Jacob York), Dave Robinson (John Stewart), and Paul Hornung (Brody Wellmaker), and babysitting them while McCormick pries open the truth behind the legend.
In my opinion, Carolyn Cook’s Marie Lombardi was hands down the glue of honesty within the show. She brought a real life to this look at a man. Yes, he was powerful, talented, and hard to work with. But he was a husband, a father, and obviously not the hugging kind. Lombardi without Marie would have fallen short. It would have lacked the truthfulness of what it means to be so devoted to what you do, and how your aggressiveness and obsessiveness can effect those around you. Cook played this role of loving and understanding wife perfectly as she mixed her drinks, drowned her sorrows, and stood up to a man who didn’t take shit from anyone.
Lombardi is playing at Aurora Theatre until Feb. 9 and, as expected, is selling out quickly. Put on your Packers jersey, or go as a non-fan, and leave having a new understanding of a man whose name is still on people’s lips.
