Mitch Albom’s Ernie premiered last night, Thursday, July 10, at the City Theatre in Detroit for its fourth season running. Since the show first opened in April 2011, it has run at the City Theatre for four summer seasons, with limited productions in Grand Rapids and Lakeland, FL (the home of the Tigers spring training), and has become the highest-attended show in the history of the City Theatre.
Ernie is set on Harwell’s last night at Comerica Park in September of 2009, prior to his moving thank you speech to his adopted and beloved city of Detroit. Just before he walks onto the grassy field, he encounters an unusual boy who is eager to know all about him, coaxing Harwell into giving one final broadcast – the “broadcast of his life.” The play features classic footage from historic baseball moments, supplied courtesy of Major League Baseball, and boasts many unmistakable Harwell calls. Tigers fans will get a glimpse of the time that Ernie met the Great Bambino and Ty Cobb. They’ll witness how he “recreated” games in his early days, and what was behind his broadcasts of the Tigers’ 1968 and 1984 World Series.
The two-man play features TJ Corbett as “The Boy,” a role he has played during each of the show’s four seasons, and Peter Carey as the iconic and beloved Hall of Fame Detroit Tiger announcer Ernie Harwell. Carey was the understudy for the role for the past two years.
Mitch appeared on Detroit’s local news stations to talk about the show’s fourth season. Mitch said he considers it an “honor” that Ernie is now the most-watched play in the history of Detroit. He also had nothing butgood things to say about Peter Carey joining the cast full-time: “The true joy of theater is having great actors who can make the words that you wrote take off,” he remarked, assuring those who have previously seen Ernie that they “haven’t seen Peter do it.”
The fourth season of Ernie runs from July 10th to August 16th.
Click here for tickets and for more information about the play.
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