July 14, 2012

KC Baseball Great to attend "Fairball: Negro Leagues in America" performance

Kansas City legend and Five-time All-Star Frank White
To visit Theatre for Young America
Kansas City Legend Supports Negro Leagues Musical!

KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Theatre for Young America is excited to announce that Kansas City legend and five-time all-star Frank White will be in attendance for the July 17, 2012 performance of Fair Ball: Negro Leagues in America. The play is a musical about the dramatic history and exemplary courage of the men and women who played against all odds of racial segregation and "Jim Crow" laws in Negro Leagues baseball.

White will speak with the audience after the show about his own experiences with the Negro Leagues and their impact on his career in Major League baseball. White enjoyed an 18-year playing career with the Kansas City Royals from 1973-90. He appeared in five all-star games in that span and was an eight-time Golden Glove award winner, including six straight from 1977-82. White was selected as ALCS MVP in 1980 and was an integral part of the Royals' 1985 World Series Championship team. He was elected to the Royals Hall of Fame in 1995 and his National Baseball Hall of Fame status is eligible for review next year. Currently, White serves as First base coach for the Kansas City T-Bones.

Set in the locker room of an abandoned stadium, this musical production raises the ghosts of great baseball players of the Negro Leagues to play one last great contest versus the supposed supremacy of the all-white Major Leagues. An all-star dream team, managed by Rube Foster, includes Leroy "Satchel" Paige, James "Cool Papa" Bell, Wilbur "Bullet" Rogan, Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson, and female player Toni Stone. This one-hour play is suitable for all ages, all lovers of baseball and all those who wish to celebrate this remarkable league.

Fair Ball's songwriter, Danny Cox, performs in the play. Danny began his professional music career in 1960 performing on a Hootenanny Folk Tour. In the 1970s, Danny recorded for the ABC-Dunhill, Casablanca, and the MGM labels. In 1969, he partnered a company called Good Karma Productions, which managed the acts of Brewer and Shipley, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and his own career. He was a regular on the Allen Luden and Danny Kaye TV shows and has been the opening act for Ray Charles. For Theatre for Young America he has created original music for The Legend of John Henry, El Gato Sin Amigos, Trains Across America, and Black Cowboy in the Old West.

Also appearing in Fair Ball is Lonnie McFadden, a nationally recognized tap-dancer, singer and all around entertainer. McFadden, along with brother Ronnie, is part of the famed McFadden Brothers. The duo performs all over the world and has appeared on the same bill with entertainment giants such as The Count Basie Orchestra, Miles Davis, Winton Marsalis, and Sammy Davis, Jr.

The cast also includes local performers Damon Patterson, Evan Lovelace, Chioma Anyanwu and musicians Max Berry and Max Groove.

Single tickets may be reserved online at www.unionstation.org or by calling Union Station at 816.460.2020, or Theatre for Young America at 816.460.2083. For group reservations, call 816.460.2020 or 816.460.2083.


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