Baseball's Shining Stars

With the production of Before the Lights Go Out, a play about baseball's Negro Leagues, the Harris-Stowe State University Players hopes to accomplish a lot. Not only does the theatrical group want to share the history of the leagues through the stories of St. Louis players Leroy "Satchel" Paige (pictured) and James "Cool Papa" Bell, but it also intends to give a sense of the larger civil-rights time line, both past and present, and provide an opportunity for actor Bobby Norfolk to mentor students involved in the production as he stars in the play. While all of that is a lot to accomplish with just one show, we look forward to watching and learning along with the HSSU Players as Before the Lights Go Out is presented at 8 p.m. at the university's Bank of America Theatre in the Emerson Performance Center (3101 Laclede Avenue). Tickets to the one-night-only show — written by HSSU instructor Gregory Carr and directed by HSSU director of speech and theater Beverly Brennan (who is also Jack Buck's daughter) — cost $5 to $10; call 314-340-5975 to make a purchase. Oh, and don't forget to bring along some extra cash to buy peanuts, hot dogs and Cracker Jack from the concession stand!
Fri., Aug. 27, 2010