Baseball meets Broadway as producers Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo plan to commission a project inspired by the New York Yankees, working with the team and Major League Baseball.
The untitled work, the third in a sports-focused series from Kirmser and Ponturo after “Lombardi” and “Magic/Bird,” will spotlight “personalities, triumphs and private moments.”
“It is a thrill that two iconic American institutions, the Yankees and the Broadway theater, are joining together,” said Yankees COO Lonn Trost. The club’s history spans two centuries and 27 World Series. “We look forward to opening our archives to the process and sharing our stories.”
“Lombardi,” starring Dan Lauria, told the life story of Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi. “Magic/Bird” was about the rivalry and eventual friendship between Hall of Fame basketball stars Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird.
Kirmser was a producer of the musical revival “Hair” and August Wilson’s “Radio Golf” and launched the Biography Project, a series of non-profit Off Broadway plays.
Ponturo, a producer of “Memphis,” is a sports and entertainment marketer.
Their Kirmser Ponturo Group is currently co-producing Broadway’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and is represented in the musical “Annie.”
