GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.— Thomas Kail, the director of the new play “Lombardi,” paid a recent visit to Sonny Jurgensen, the Hall of Fame quarterback. It was part of Mr. Kail’s laborious research into the life of Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers.
Mr. Jurgensen played for Lombardi in 1969, when the coach spent his final season in the NFL with the Washington Redskins, and he told Mr. Kail that there was a seminal moment when Lombardi pulled the quarterback aside and said something important: “I just want you to be the best version of yourself. Don’t be anybody else. I want you to be you.”
The story resonated with Mr. Kail, who said he has grown to admire the way that Lombardi—sometimes gruff, sometimes misunderstood—sought to communicate and connect with his players. Mr. Kail said he views his job in much the same way, even if his methods are different.
“I’ve never raised my voice in rehearsal room,” Mr. Kail said last week before the final workshop production of “Lombardi” at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center here in the Berkshires. “That’s just not the way I relate to actors. But he had a very specific dynamic and relationship with every single person on the team, and he had this ability to find the right words at the right moment for each person. And I think timing is so much what directing is about.”
The play, which the league will help to market, is based on the book “When Pride Still Matters—A Life of Vince Lombardi,” by David Maraniss. The intimate, 90-minute-long play, written by Eric Simonson, tells the story of Lombardi through flashbacks and other devices. Dan Lauria, best known for playing the father role in the ABC series “The Wonder Years,” plays Lombardi, who died in 1970 at age 57. Veteran actress Judith Light plays his wife.
The play, which has a total of just six actors, is scheduled to begin previews at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theater on Sept. 23 before opening Oct. 21.
