A “Bosom Buddy” Joins Larry Legend and Friends on Broadway

There was a time in the 1980s that Peter Scolari dressed like a woman and palled around on TV with Tom Hanks in the legendary sitcom Bosom Buddies on ABC. Since then, the New York-based actor has had scores of roles in theater, stage and TV in shows ranging from Tin Men and The West Wing to the animated film Polar Express and everywhere in between. It's less known whether Scolari ever envisioned himself playing not one, but three sports legends in the same 90-minute play.
 
That will be the case when "Magic/Bird" opens on Broadway at the Longacre Theater on April 11. Scolari, along with the rest of the supporting cast for the play, were announced on Tuesday. Each of the ensemble, with the exception of Magic (played by Kevin Daniels) and Larry (played by Tug Coker) will have multiple roles in the drama, which is being produced by the same team (Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser) who created the hit play “Lombardi.” Scolari will have perhaps the most diverse quick change, going from Red Auerbach, to Jerry Buss to Pat Riley repeatedly in the 90 minutes.
 
The quick change is one of a series of unique and intriguing elements for the play, which will have a large amount of video interspersed with the drama (as well as a free throw or two from the cast on stage). The theater itself also plays into Boston/New York sports lore. The Longacre, with over 1,000 seats, is one of the classic old theaters of Broadway. It was originally owned by Harry Frazee, who sports fans may also know as the owner of the Boston Red Sox who sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919 and launched the "Curse of the Bambino."  Legend has it that Frazee used that money to produce “No, No, Nanette,” which had a shorter run on Broadway than Ruth did in The Bronx, and the rest as they say is history. It is a move that Auerbach might have pondered as he lit countless victory cigars during his reign in Boston, and one which may bring its own little sense of karma to Scolari as he lights up as the legendary Celtics leader eight times a week when the play opens.
 
He won’t be wearing a dress this time, but keeping the hairstyles of Riley and Buss, and the lack of hair from Auerbach, may present its own form of challenges for the seasoned Scolari.