Roger Guenveur Smith's explosive new work JUAN AND JOHN, running December 1 to December 20 at The Public Theater, is inspired by the violent altercation between Juan Marichal and John Roseboro during a 1965 Giants-Dodgers game. The two became friends in later years.
This Saturday, The Public Theater presented a special performance of Roger Guenveur Smith's JUAN AND JOHN attended by legendary Dominican-American pitcher Juan Marichal and the family of the late L.A. Dodgers catcher John Roseboro. This special performance was followed by a private reception with special guest Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna, President of the Dominican Republic who was also influential in the creation of Smith's piece. BroadwayWorld was on hand to memorialize this special event.
In JUAN AND JOHN, it's 1965 and there's a riot going on. Watts and Vietnam are burning. So is La Republica Dominicana. In San Francisco, it's the Giants vs. the Dodgers. Juan Marichal vs. John Roseboro. Cain vs. Abel. Roger Guenveur Smith and Marc Anthony Thompson, the Obie-winning creators of A Huey P. Newton Story, return to The Public with new work inspired by ancient themes: rage, retribution, and redemption.
Juan Marichal is generally regarded as one of the best pitchers in baseball history. The second Major League Baseball player in history to come from the Dominican Republic, Marichal was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. He won more games during the 1960s than any other pitcher and shares the distinction, with Sandy Koufax, of being the only Major League pitcher in the modern era to pitch multiple seasons with 25 or more wins. His notorious beating of John Roseboro during an August 22, 1965 Giants/Dodgers game forever marked his career.
John Roseboro (1933-2002) was a Major League Baseball catcher from 1957 to 1970. He won two Golden Gloves and was named an All Star four times in the course of his career, which included 11 years with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, two with the Minnesota Twins, and one with the Washington Senators. He was the starting catcher for the Dodgers in four World Series - 1959, 1963, 1965 and 1966. Despite the altercation with Juan Marichal in 1965, the two men eventually became friends and Roseboro made a personal appeal to Baseball Hall of Fame administrators to forgive his onetime rival for the incident and consider him for inclusion.
JUAN AND JOHN has an official opening night of December 13 and will run through December 20, 2009. The performances run Tuesdays at 7pm; Wednesdays through Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 2pm and 7pm. For more information and tickets visit www.publictheater.org.
Photo Credit: Ryan Burke
