(NY Times) Daryl Morey Built an Elite N.B.A. Team. Now He’s Building a Musical

Rockets sent out a press release on this...

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The Catastrophic Theatre Presents Small Ball, an Original Basketball Musical Commissioned by Houston Rockets GM

SMALL BALL by Mickle Maher opens April 6 at Houston’s acclaimed avant-garde theatre company

(Houston, TX) An unlikely partnership between Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets and Houston’s foremost avant-garde theatre, is behind The Catastrophic Theatre’s next production, SMALL BALL, with book and lyrics by Mickle Maher and music by Merel van Dijkand Anthony Barilla. The world premiere of this new musical will be directed by Catastrophic founding artistic directors Jason Nodler and Tamarie Cooper. The production opens April 6 and runs through May 13th. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at matchouston.org or by calling the Box Office at 713-521-4533. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

About the Play

The inhabitants of the recently re-discovered island nation Lilliput—yes, the same Lilliput from Gulliver’s Travels—seek to put themselves on the international map by forming a FIBA basketball team. The Emperor and coach of Lilliput imports Michael Jordan to increase the vertically challenged team’s competitiveness. Well, not THE Michael Jordan but instead an American journeyman basketball player at the end of his career. However, it’s tough to pass a regulation size ball to a six-inch player, so the team hasn’t been doing too well, and the post-loss press conferences are getting rough. Welcome to the surreal magical world of SMALL BALL created by Catastrophic favorite, Mickle Maher.

“There’s mystery in this world yet.”

Daryl Morey, who is a Catastrophic Theatre board member and a lifelong musical theatre lover, agreed to commission SMALL BALL based on a pitch by Artistic Director Jason Nodler: "What about a basketball musical? We both love basketball and we both love Mickle's work, so what if we asked him to write a basketball musical for us?” Morey and Nodler are both admirers of Maher’s experimental sensibility and ‘how-did-he-think-of-THAT’ sense of humor. According to Morey, “When I heard Mickle was interested I jumped at the chance to work with him. His writing style is note perfect for the kind of shows I enjoy. Nothing can properly describe Mickle but my best attempt is he combines W.S. Gilbert’s humor with A. Laurent’s depth. While basketball might be the hook that got this started, SMALL BALL’s ironic love story and Merel & Tony’s music are going to be what people remember.” In Nodler’s words, “Daryl and I both knew that if we gave Mickle this simple, unlikely pitch he would come up with something unlike anything we have ever seen. Small Ball is the most imaginative new play I’ve directed in 25 years working in theatre. In its simplest sense it’s a hilarious musical comedy having to do with basketball, but it’s so much more than that. More than anything I think it’s about feeling stuck in a way that one can’t imagine any further possibilities. The music by Merel and Anthony is extraordinary and Mickle is one of the funniest and deepest writers I’ve had the pleasure to know. And as a lifelong, obsessive fan of the Houston Rockets, working on this with Daryl, whose mind for musical theatre is as great as his mind for basketball, has been a dream come true."

The production brings together several long-time collaborators. The Catastrophic Theatre has produced seven of Maher’s plays, including two world premieres, making him the theatre’s most produced playwright. The musical also reunites director Jason Nodler and composer Anthony Barilla, the creative team behind the critically acclaimed rock operas Speeding Motorcycle (with legendary outsider artist Daniel Johnston) and Bluefinger: The Fall and Rise of Herman Brood (with Pixies frontman Frank Black). SMALL BALL features Derrick Brent, Tamarie Cooper, Greg Cote, Candice D’Meza, Julia Krohn, Jeff Miller, Angela Pinina, Rodrick Randall, and Kyle Sturdivant. Set by Ryan McGettigan, Costumes by Macy Lyne, Lights by Mitchell Cronin, Sound by Shawn St. John, and Props by Lauren Davis.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER

DARYL MOREY has served as the Houston Rockets General Manager since 2006-07, compiling the 2nd best record in the NBA over his tenure including multiple deep playoff runs. He was named "Forty Under 40" most promising executive in sport from SportsBusiness Journal and was included in Fast Company’s “Top 10 Most Creative People in Sports”. Morey is the co-chair of the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, the largest annual sports conference. He graduated from Northwestern in 1996 with a MBA from MIT in 2000. He loves the theatre and has invested in and produced numerous plays such as Godspell, Side Show, and Disaster! Twitter: @dmorey

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MICKLE MAHER’s plays have appeared Off-Broadway and around the world, and have been supported by grants from the NEA, the Rockefeller Foundation/MAP fund, and Creative Capital. They include There is a Happiness That Morning Is; Song About Himself; An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening; The Hunchback Variations; The Strangerer; Spirits to Enforce; Cyrano (translator); The Cabinet; Lady Madeline; The Pine; and An Actor Prepares (an adaptation of Stanislavsky's seminal book). He is a cofounder of Chicago’s Theater Oobleck, and has taught playwriting and related subjects at the University of Chicago, Columbia College, and Northwestern University.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS

MEREL & TONY met in 2013 while working on an art installation in a small Dutch village. Since then, they have released several EPs of songs, written music for THIS AMERICAN LIFE, recorded an album of protest songs funded by a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance, and toured Texas with their band, THE WOE WOE WOES. Merel & Tony now divide their time between Rome and Houston.

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

JASON NODLER is the founding artistic director of The Catastrophic Theatre. His original plays include Bluefinger: The Fall and Rise of Herman Brood, Life is Happy and Sad, Speeding Motorcycle, Meatbar, King Ubu is King, and In the Under Thunderloo. He has directed more than 50 productions in Houston, Austin, Atlanta, Providence, Pittsburgh, and New York. Nodler is a NEA/MacDowell Colony fellow, a four-time MAP Fund grantee and recipient of an individual artist grant from Creative Capital. He was artistic director of Infernal Bridegroom Productions for ten years.

TAMARIE COOPER is associate director of The Catastrophic Theatre, which she co-founded in 2007 with Jason Nodler. Originally trained in dance, she began working in theatre at HSPVA and helped to found Infernal Bridegroom Productions in 1993, where she worked for fourteen years. She is a seasoned actor, director, designer, choreographer and occasional writer, best known for her original musicals, which enjoy highly successful runs and a cult-like following in Houston. Tamarie has been featured in national trade magazine Stage Directions and has received various “Best of Houston” awards from The Houston Press for her performances and original work.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

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ABOUT THE CATASTROPHIC THEATRE

Formed in 2007 by Jason Nodler, Tamarie Cooper, The Catastrophic Theatre is Houston’s premier creator and producer of new work for the theatre. The nationally acclaimed organization is dedicated to developing productions that foster a meaningful exchange between artists and audiences. A recipient of two prestigious MAP Fund commissioning grants, the theatre has gained an international reputation for its original pieces, which have attracted audiences from across the United States, Europe, and Australia. Artistic director Jason Nodler is the recipient of a NEA/MacDowell Colony fellowship, a Houston Press Mastermind award, and an unsolicited and unrestricted creative grant from Creative Capital. Awarded Best Season, Best Actor, and Best Artistic Director by the Houston Press Theatre Awards in 2017, The Catastrophic Theatre offers Houston audiences a repertoire of challenging, innovative work that can't be seen anywhere else in the country.

TICKET INFORMATION: All performances are held at The Midtown Arts Theatre Center (MATCH). Tickets can be ordered online (catastrophictheatre.com OR matchouston.org) or by phone (713-521-4533). The Catastrophic Theatre is Houston’s only Pay-What-You-Can theatre; all tickets for every performance are Pay-What-You-Can.