THEATER REVIEW
“Lombardi”
Grade: B-
Through Feb. 9. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays (excluding Feb. 5); 2:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays; 10 a.m. Wednesday (Feb. 5 only). $20-$30. Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. 678-226-6222. www.auroratheatre.com.
Bottom line: More statistical than revealing.
Eric Simonson’s “Lombardi” largely takes place in 1965, when an idealistic young writer and football enthusiast named Michael McCormick is given a “golden opportunity” to interview legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi for an article in Look magazine.
Over the play’s 90-odd minutes, McCormick spends a week getting to know Lombardi and enjoying a “worm’s eye view into his natural habitat,” both at home with his wife and on the field with a few of his key players – hoping to learn what it is about Lombardi, as a man, that accounts for his winning tradition as a football coach.
As it happens, it’s all for naught. Eventually, McCormick writes a presumably impactful article on Lombardi, but the story’s ultimately withheld from publication. “Too much art, not enough sports,” his editor snidely decrees.
The opposite is basically true of Simonson’s “Lombardi,” which paints a much clearer picture of the man as an iconic sports figure than as a particularly relatable human being. Too many game highlights and career statistics, too few moments of personal insight or emotion.
One of the best things to be said for director Justin Anderson’s solid Aurora Theatre production is that it offers the great Atlanta character actor Bart Hansard a rare turn as a leading man. If only the script had provided him more to sink his teeth into than a rather one-note outline of a so-called “man of extremes.”
On the surface, donning a period buzz cut and constantly squinting his eyes behind a pair of glasses, the sizable Hansard often bears an uncanny physical likeness to Lombardi. His most energizing scenes involve playing the lovably gruff mentor to his men (including McCormick), or barking commands at them in the locker room and from the sidelines.
But “Lombardi” generally skims over any deeper, more dramatic issues at home. There’s the slightest hint that his wife, Marie, a brassy New Jersey gal, might have a drinking problem. And fleeting mention is made of a son who’s off at college, possibly threatened by living in his father’s shadow.
Although it's a gutsy casting choice on Anderson's part, and a brave attempt on hers, Carolyn Cook's performance as Marie is overly mannered and affected. What distinguishes Cook as such a brilliant actress is how natural and effortless she usually makes it seem; here, there's never a doubt that she's acting.
The enviably youthful Chris Moses is better employed as McCormick (who may be 29 but looks like he’s 16 to Lombardi). He isn’t especially convincing as a paragon of journalistic principles in certain heated scenes, but Moses definitely stands his ground opposite Hansard and creates a genuine rapport with the play’s microcosm of Packers: Brody Wellmaker as Paul Hornung, Jacob York as Jim Taylor and John Stewart as Dave Robinson.
That the team is transformed by Lombardi from “perpetual losers to perennial winners” may be one for the record books, but it doesn’t result in a very moving or meaningful play.
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