#Legacy
A musical about more than getting on base
ews on First explores Jewish assimilation, Jewish identity, and Jewish guts viewed through the lens of America's favorite pastime. It’s a dramatic examination of Jews’ enduring and mysterious love of baseball. It's a tale of grandfather and grandson. It’s a musical about growing up among people who talk loud, eat fast, and always question.
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Call us now to book a show. We also offer a theatrical staged reading of this play at a reduced cost! All plays are available to be independently produced.
Brilliant! Fantastic vaudeville acting and costumes. A great bridge of the generations.
- Kim Amzallag, Advertising Director, Jewish Daily Forward
ews On First celebrates the Hebrew all-stars gleaned from the minuscule contingent of 150 or so Jewish Major Leaguers among the more than 18,000 who have played in the Major Leagues since 1876. Our lead character - a young teen - feels all sorts of pressures: the pressure of his heritage, of his parents' expectations, cultural stereotypes, even his emerging questions around religion and Jewish identity. And while he'd like
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to cast all that aside and pursue the one thing in his young life that he enjoys more than anything else - baseball - he knows he can’t. Or at least he thinks he can’t.
Original Music From the Play
'Easy to Say,' by Erin Murray Quinlan
'Easy to Say,' sung a cappella by actor Eliott Purcell. (Composed by Erin Murray Quinlan.)
Composer Erin Murray Quinlan sings 'Baseball'- in the show, it's sung by Grandpa to Aaron to illustrate the Jewish history of the game.
Unlikely Teammates in a Musical about Jewish Ballplayers
- The Boston Globe
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ased on Larry Ruttman's award-winning series of interviews in his book 'American Jews and America’s Game,' the play creates drama, and it educates and entertains.
The main character - a young teen - feels all sorts of pressures: the pressure of his heritage, of his parents' expectations, cultural stereotypes, even his emerging questions around religion and Jewish identity. And while he'd like to cast all that aside and pursue the one thing in his young life that he enjoys more than anything else - baseball - he knows he can’t. Or at least he thinks he can’t....More
View Clips
"Jews Can't Play"
"Baseball"
"Grandpa Arrives"
"Shaun Green Marriage Proposal"
Playwrights
Erin Murray Quinlan
Libretto/Music/Lyrics
A composer and lyricist who focuses on film and theater, Erin wrote the lyrics and music for 'Jews on First.' Erin is a Berklee graduate, and has also studied music at the European American Musical Alliance in Paris with teachers from Julliard and the Paris Conservatory. Erin has also studied playwriting at the University of Oxford.Her other works include 'The Great Heathersby Heist' and Club Oberon's 'The Erin Murray Variety Hour.'
Larry Jay Tish
Libretto
Larry is a playwright, actor, poet, copywriter, short story, TV, and travel writer. Previous works include 'The Break-Up of Cause and Effect' which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2013 and was part of The Momentum Theatre Troupe’s summer 2015 tour. His first one-man show Everything Hurts premiered in 2000 at the ImprovBoston Theatre. For the past seven NFL seasons Larry has written and stars in the New England Patriots television program Totally Patriots segment 'How’d They Do That?'
and...
Lee Goodwin
Libretto
Lee (left) is a word doctor and speech coach. He helps corporations, organizations and individuals articulate their ideas. He brings flat, dull writing alive, and straightens out crooked and confused work. For decades, he has helped clients engage their audience and tell their stories: on paper, online, and in person. He also teaches non-experienced speakers to overcome their anxiety and present with confidence.
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