“With a major league cast, a jazzy score, a book of great potential … as strongly theatrical a finale as any in recent memory.”
- The Hartford Courant
This musical about Black Baseball offers “big league potential”!
- Journal-Courier
The Dream Team could be your next big hit!
The Dream Team premiered at Goodspeed Opera and was optioned for Broadway.
Book by Richard Wesley
Music by Thomas Tierney, Lyrics by John Forster
About The Dream Team
Set in the 1940’s on the eve of baseball’s integration, the themes of The Dream Team are universal and timeless: sibling rivalry butts up against family loyalty; Black pride vs. selling out to the big (white) leagues; players vs. owners' rights, and the long wait for a level playing field.
This musical is set in the 1940’s just after WWII, on the eve of baseball’s integration. It’s the story of two brothers, Luke and Cal Davenport, a star pitcher-catcher team in the Negro Leagues. When Jackie Robinson is tapped for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Luke and Cal get caught up in the dream of playing in the Majors. When younger brother Cal is offered a contract for a major league team and accepts, Luke who is too old to be considered, counters with the idea of starting the first all-black major league team – The Dream Team. The musical climaxes with an exhibition game between Cal’s integrated Triple-A club and Luke’s all-star Dream Team - with brother facing brother in a tense final play. Along the way, we meet Luke’s long-suffering girlfriend Ruth, Cal’s loyal wife Willa, the ambitious black manager Abe Green, major league scouts, and the flamboyant ballplayers.
The musical at Goodspeed Opera originally featured the actors S. Epatha Merkerson, James McDaniel, Larry Riley, Reginald VelJohnson and Stanley Wayne Mathis. These actors went on to starring careers in TV, film and Broadway.
Two Acts • 12 Men • 3 Women (plus extras)
“Explodes with energy ... masterfully channeled into two rousing acts … Thomas Tierney (music) and John Forster (lyrics) have given ‘The Dream Team’ a lively, tuneful and meaningful score.”
- The Shoreline Times
“With a major league cast, a jazzy score, a book of great potential … this show ought to run until World Series time … [the] thrillingly staged battle between the brothers ‘The Wonderful Game,’… adds up to as strongly theatrical a finale as any in recent memory.”
- The Hartford Courant
Meet The Dream Team Authors
