Larry Bird and Magic Johnson comprise one of the biggest rivalries in the history of sports; a rivalry worthy of a Broadway play.
"Magic/Bird," a play chronicling the legendary saga between Bird and Johnson, has hit broadway, with Opening Night taking place at Longacre Theatre in New York on Wednesday. Those acting in the much-anticipated play are extremely enthusiastic about the product that's being put forth on stage.
"It's a story about people getting beyond themselves," said Peter Scolari, who plays four roles, including former Celtics general manager Red Auerbach and Lakers owner Jerry Buss. "It plays out in the story, the context of the story. It plays out amongst the actors on stage because four of us play 15 roles."
The same production team that's staging "Magic/Bird" staged "Lombardi" at the nearby Circle on the Square theater last year, but the "Magic/Bird" looks to be receiving much better reviews.
ESPN's Jackie MacMullan, who describes the ins and outs of the rivalry between the two NBA greats in her book When the Game Was Ours, served as a consultant for the play, and she understands just how important Bird and Johnson were to the game of basketball.
"You know there are few tandems that have the kind of reaction that Larry and Magic do," MacMullan said. "I'd say that [Joe] Frazier and [Muhammad] Ali were one. Martina [Navratilova] and Chrissy [Evert] were probably another, but there's only a handful."
Of that handful, few are worthy of a Broadway play.
