More Information About The Winning Streak

Description

<p>THE WINNING STREAK mixes comedy, drama, and baseball in a moving tale of a son's search to meet and understand the father he never knew. Both a universal and eternal play, THE WINNING STREAK uses America's favorite pastime to help bring father and son together for the first time.</p> <p>In 1998, the San Diego Padres did what no one expected them to do: they secured their second Division title in three years as well as the World Series, all while winning a club record 98 games in the process. In that same year, playwright Lee Blessing was told that his father was diagnosed with lung cancer and had only six months left to live. </p> <p>Blessing began to notice how quickly the disease was disabling his father, causing the playwright to spend more and more time in San Diego to be with him. Blessing also saw how the San Diego Padres were helping his father to get up and see another day, if only to watch them continue in their winning streak. “It gave him a lifeline as it also gave me the idea for my play,” Blessing said. </p> <p>It was during this time that Blessing wanted to confront and work out certain issues with his father before it was too late. While Blessing made it clear the characters and issues faced in The Winning Streak were not the same as those he faced with his father, there are certain similarities in how the characters reunite and come to know and understand each other. “The reason that I love this play, about two men who were going to forge a bond that lasts, is that it gets farther down the road in that regard than I was able to go with my father,” stated Blessing, though he admitted he was determined that his characters would have the kind of resolve he was not fortunate enough to have with his father.</p> <p>Though the play deals with serious and sometimes dark themes, in the end Blessing promises, “You don't have to be a baseball fan to love The Winning Streak. It's very funny. You'll laugh a lot.”</p>

About the Ticket Supplier: Apple Tree Theatre

Apple Tree Theatre is committed to producing a diverse and challenging selection of both dramas and musicals, from new works to classics, all of which illuminate the human condition, celebrate the tenacity of the human spirit, and expand the vision of artists and audiences alike—culturally, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually as they connect with one another.

Apple Tree Theatre in Highland Park, Illinois (near Lake Michigan in the Northshore suburbs of Chicago), has been producing award-winning plays and musicals since its inception in 1983. Now nationally known and highly respected, Apple Tree has remained an artistic and cultural force in Chicago theater for 22 years. Apple Tree provides a professional five show mainstage season.