Writing and performing a one-person show usually begins as a labor of love. Had William Shakespeare been a critic, watching Ralph Kalish’s two-hour struggle to be Branch Rickey could have inspired him with the title, “Love’s Labour’s Lost.” The Rickey legends are repeated at length at the Gaslight Theatre; the show continues through Sunday, and again May 5-6.
Kalish, not an actor but an attorney, obviously admires Rickey and what he did to break the baseball color line. But Kalish also knows that idealism and human rights were not the main reason for Rickey bringing Jackie Robinson into baseball. Rickey, as fine a judge of baseball talent as ever lived, knew there was a lot of skill in the African-American community and he wanted it for the Brooklyn Dodgers. There was very little milk of human kindness diluting the blood in Rickey’s veins.
Kalish has a lot of excellent material on the Rickey-Robinson experience, but he and director Milton Zoth should not let it dominate the production as it does. Too much of the Robinson-Rickey story already is familiar. More important, there were other interesting aspects to Rickey’s life, personality and character. His early days go by as if Kalish were reading from “Who’s Who in America.”
More problems arrive with Kalish’s writing and performance, including many fumbled lines and factual errors that should not have been allowed to occur. The most egregious involved Rickey’s trusted lieutenant and the only man in the room when the Dodgers’ g.m. told Robinson he was going to play in the majors. His name was Clyde–not Luke–Sukeforth, and he went by the nickname of “Sukey,” and not “Lukey.” There also were a number of misnamed players and mispronounced names, all of which can easily be checked.
Rickey also was not a man to hide his light under a bushel, nor did he enjoy being passed over for credit he believed was his due. But we don’t get enough about his work to create the farm system, which helped the Cardinals build dynasties. What gave birth to the idea? How did he go about it? What did he look for in a baseball player? What made him think one player was more expendable than another, as illustrated by the fact he often said he’d rather trade a player a year too early than a year too late.
“Luck is the residue of design,” was another Rickey maxim. With a two-week hiatus between the first performances and a second set, Kalish can polish his lines, correct his errors and see how much luckier he can get.
Branch Rickey continues at the Gaslight Theatre through Sunday and again May 5-6.
—Joe
Comments
One response
Joe,
Didn’t want your review to go without comment. Thanks for the the Sukeforth correction. I also received a very nice note from James Rygelski, with a courtesy copy of his excellent book, 10 Rings, about the Cards’ World Championships, correcting my pronunciation of Breadon and Reiser. Regarding your “Who’s Who in America” comment, there are probably 3-5 different Branch Rickey presentations — Jackie Robinson, farm system and his approach to labor, his judgment of talent and statistical analysis, his personal relationships with and mentoring of scouts and baseball executives, including those with whom he had problems (e.g., Ball, Hornsby, Breadon, O’Malley, MacPhail and Devine) and more. My goal was to give the audience a flavor of the man which necessitated cutting a lot of material to insure that I ended before the audience did. For example, I would have loved telling how Rickey and MacPhail conspired to hide Pete Reiser in the minors and how Durocher wouldn’t accommodate them. Also, I wanted to include another fact I uncovered: my grandfather, Ralph Kalish, a patent attorney, obtained a patent for a wrap-around dress for Grace Dozier Durocher, Leo’s first wife. There are many others. I must disagree with you on point: Given the reactions I have received from those who came to theater, I don’t think the full Robinson story is as familiar to people as you apparently do. Anyway, thanks for coming and taking the time to write a review. I appreciate the feedback because I realize this is a work in progress and hope to get luckier. Kind regards,
Ralph Kalish