BLEACHER BUMS
Confession #3: I still think Bleacher Bums is a dreadful show.
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According to Forum Theatre’s press materials, this play–conceived by Joe Mantegna and developed by the Organic Theater Company in 1977–is second in popularity only to the works of Neil Simon. Which, if true, says a hell of a lot more about the dire state of commercial theater in America than it does about the play. This trite expansion of what might have been a decent five-minute Second City sketch is one of the dullest, flattest comedies I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Forum Theatre’s revival of this play has been updated to reflect the current Cubs and Cardinals rosters but lacks the attention to detail that would make these references seem authentic. For folks who supposedly attend every home game, they sure don’t seem to know much about baseball. They get the name of the Cards’ star pitcher right but seem ignorant of the fact he used to play with the Cubs.
