Can a Broadway Hoops Play Help the Ills of the NBA?

While NBA fans continue to sit quietly by, two Broadway producers who have had great success mixing sport and entertainment are moving doggedly along with their latest project.

Longtime sports marketing executive Tony Ponturo and his producing partner, Broadway veteran Fran Kirmser, are well into casting and the next steps for Magic/Bird, the dramatic story based on the larger-than-life relationship between Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird.

The six-person drama, written by Eric Simonson and directed by Thomas Kail, will look to again bring a growing breed of new fans to the theater with the story of the two NBA legends, much like Kirmser and Ponturo did with their successful run of Lombardi last year. 

The story will take fans from the 1979 Michigan State-Indiana State championship game through to the first Dream Team in 1992, weaving footage and stories from many people along the way, including actors playing fans and people like Lakers great Michael Cooper and the legendary Red Auerbach.

Kirmser and Ponturo took the idea to Boston this week, where they hosted an event at Westside Johnny’s and Comcast Sports Net New England to introduce Boston fans to the idea. They were joined by Jackie MacMullan (whose book also chronicled the Bird-Johnson friendship), Tom Heinsohn and Celts' play-by-play man Mike Gorman, who also gave their account of the rivalry and what it meant to the NBA.

According to reports in Playbill, casting for the play will be held in the coming weeks, with no clear-cut favorites yet for the lead roles. The play is expected to start previews on Broadway at a date to be determined in mid-February and then officially open just in time for March Madness 2012.

The NBA is a marketing partner in the play, much like the NFL was with Lombardi. Maybe the activity and buzz generated by the play and its casting can stir the will of the locked-out players to get back on the court, lest Magic and Bird take center stage again this winter as the only pro-hoops story in Gotham.

Then again, maybe we'll see a few NBAers fill the lockout void with an acting lesson or two. Carmelo Anthony and Brian Scalabrine in the leads?

Nah.