Lombardi, Stage Bio of Legendary Football Coach, Eyes Fall 2010 Broadway Run

A stage biography of Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi may be headed for Broadway. Lombardi, a new play by Oscar-winning writer/director Eric Simonson based on David Maraniss’ biography When Pride Still Mattered, is eyeing a fall 2010 run on the Great White Way.

Producers Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser (Hair) will join forces to bring the life and times of the Brooklyn-born Lombardi, the winning coach of the first Super Bowl, to the stage. Additional production information including director, casting for the multi-character roles, design team and production schedule will be announced at a later date.

A member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Simonson won a 2006 Academy Award for the documentary short A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin and co-directed a film version of Hamlet with Campbell Scott, who played the title role. His plays include Bang the Drum Slowly and Work Song (co- written with Jeffrey Hatcher) and a stage adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. Opera credits include the North American premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale at Minnesota Opera and the recent world premiere of The Grapes of Wrath (composed by Ricky Ian Gordon) for Minnesota Opera, Utah Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and Opera Pacific.