Sweetest Swing in Baseball!

St. Louis, MO: The NonProphet Theater Company returns with the second production of their third season with The Sweetest Swing in Baseball May 15-24 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd, St Louis, MO 63112. Performances will be Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sundays at 5pm. Tickets are $15 for general audiences and $12 for students and seniors.

 Final Weekend for The NonProphet Theater Company’s THE SWEETEST SWING IN BASEBALL!!! 
 

“In The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman, an artist named Dana Fielding is suffering from a slump in both her career and her personal life. After a disastrous gallery showing, her paranoia and depression send her boyfriend packing. When Fielding attempts suicide, she lands in a mental ward and finds she enjoys the structure of the days. But when she learns her health insurance will pay for only a 10-day stay, she cooks up a scheme with two fellow patients to fool the doctors into believing she's psychotic. Without knowing much about him, she takes on the personality of troubled baseball star Darryl Strawberry. Known for having the 'sweetest swing in baseball,' Strawberry also struggled with … the darker side of fame, including rejection by fans and the effort to make a comeback … When Dana chats with fellow patients Michael, an alcoholic, and Gary, a stalker, the dialogue here is hilarious as Dana instructs a would-be killer on drawing negative space and the two men coach her on Strawberry's stats."
Here’s some of what the critics have said:
 
“Rebecca Gilman's The Sweetest Swing in Baseball is absolutely delightful. It is funny, profound, and beautifully directed and acted.”  – Andrea Braun – KDHX.
 
“A petite blonde, [Michelle] Hand [as artist Dana Fielding] is hilarious in her unlikely impersonation of the baseball star [Darryl Strawberry]. The transformation addresses the play's big questions. What is identity? How much is intrinsic, and how much is determined by the way the world sees us?” – Judith Newmark – St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
 
“There is marvelous work as well by the supporting cast.  B Weller brings a suitable blandness to Roy, and as Gary he shows us in one frightening moment the true danger of a sociopath who frequently seems more meddlesome than menacing.  BJ Hotson provides a nice counter-balance as the genial but repressed Michael, encouraging Dana even as he stifles his own recovery.  Sarah Cannon, complete with power wig, is delightful as Rhonda, a driven big-city art dealer who uses people as building blocks.  Christina Rios is the “good cop” as Rhonda’s more sensitive assistant, who sees Dana as a friend as well as a business associate.  Nicole Angeli conveys warmth, intelligence and a healthy dose of reality as Dana’s primary psychiatric contact, a woman with her own unrealized dreams.” – Mark Bretz – Ladue News.
 
“Director Robert A. Mitchell has assembled a topnotch cast, with Michelle Hand batting cleanup — and she delivers big-time. Her Dana is a bravura creation. Sarah Cannon is also fun as a haughty art dealer. The only thing wrong with this show was the wee size of its audience. Theater this engaging deserves to be seen.” – Dennis Brown – The Riverfront Times.
 
 
It continues through May 24 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Boulevard, across from The Pageant. Showtimes are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 5 p.m. Tickets are $15 ($12 for students and seniors). For reservations, call 314-752-5075 or visit www.brownpapertickets.com.

 For more information on the NonProphet Theater Company, visit us on the web at our website: www.nptco.org, or our Myspace page: www.myspace.com/nptco or our Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-NonProphet-Theatre-Company/81532360483