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The Miracle Kid

2004 · Triopia High School

Set against the hard times of 1932, The Miracle Kid is Ken Bradbury's original musical about the Chicago Cubs — a hapless ballclub two outs from the pennant and worlds away from beating Frank Goliath and the mighty Yankees. The action moves between Chicago's Wrigley Field, the Triple Bagger speakeasy with its showgirl Daphne and her crew, the loud and loving Cub wives, and the unlikely town of Bethlehem, Illinois, just south of Edwardsville, where David and his brothers are growing up. By the time the story finds its way through Union Station, the Cook County Jail, and the bleachers at Wrigley, friendship and faith have done as much heavy lifting as any home run.

The script is pure Bradbury: rapid-fire wisecracks in thick south-side accents, a chorus of gangsters with names like Slasher, Rum Bucket, and Wienie, newsboys hollering headlines about the Lindbergh baby and Al Capone, and a heroine named Josie who disguises herself as a man to land in the jailhouse. Underneath the comedy runs a current of Depression-era struggle and an old, persistent hope that this might finally be the Cubs' year. The show was built, as Bradbury's shows always were, to put as many students on stage as possible — a sprawling cast of cons, showgirls, vendors, dancers, and ballplayers.

In his program note, Bradbury reflected on more than thirty years of directing at Triopia and on the word a neighbor once pressed on his father: proud. He wrote about a small school whose greatest accomplishment "is not found in ball scores or playbills but in the way the lonely and disenfranchised student is sought out and encouraged," and about pride tempered by faith and humility. "You'll see two things onstage tonight," he closed, "pride and faith. If we've taught our children nothing else, I'll settle for that."

Musical Numbers

Act I

• "The Razzama Rag" — Daphne and her Crew
• "It's Tough to be a Cubbie" — The Cubs and their Ladies
• "I'm About Another" — Jesse's Kids
• "The Razzama Rag" (reprise) — David and the Triple Bagger Dancers
• "Chicago!" — The Chicago Singers and Dancers
• "The Harder They Fall" — David and Josie
• "It's Tough to be a Cubbie" (reprise) — The Triple Bagger Singers and Dancers

Act II

• "The Jailhouse Blues" — The Cons
• "You're My Friend" — Josie and David
• "Ode to the Hotdog" — Wrigley Vendors and Fans
• "Mama" — The Cubs and Queenie
• "Your Man Must Be a Cub" — The Cubs' Ladies
• "Razzama Rag" (reprise) — Josie, David, and the Cast

Cast

• David — Nick Stephens
• Josie — Stephanie Nobis
• David's Brothers — Andrew Waters (Eli), Brock Hall (Shimmy), James Slocum (Neth), Cody Nergenah (Red)
• Daphne — Kim Stock
• Trombone Player — David Shaffer
• Piano Player — Andrew Hill
• Announcer / Scoops Carey — Matt Meyer
• Newsboys — Carlin Anderson, Derek Carls
• Burleigh Grimes — Andrew Hill
• Bobo Newsom — Nick Jackson
• Charlie Root — Trenton Carls
• Gabby Hartnett — Matt Johnston
• Charlie Grimm — Alex Beard
• Stan Hack — Sam Schone
• Billy Herman — David Meyer
• KiKi Cuyler — Granger Snodgrass
• Queenie — Jessica Strattman
• Thelma — Jillian Preston
• Chloe — Melissa Beard
• Irene — Carly Joehl
• Opal — Casey Suhling
• Sam Yule — Andy Anderson
• Norma Lizer — Olivia Rahe
• Scarface O'Malley — Ryan Hoots
• Beth Sheba (owner of the Yankees) — Courtney McCormick
• The Cons — Andrew Hill (Slasher), Andrew Waters (Rum Bucket), Matt Johnston (Scummy), Brock Hall (Muskrat), Cody Nergenah (Slip Pocket), Granger Snodgrass (Stoolie), Trenton Carls (Wienie)
• Police Chief — Shane Washington
• Prison Guard — James Slocum
• Vendors, Fans, Singers, and Dancers — Sarah Wankel, Jaquie Hooker, Katie McDannald, Cynthia Brummett, Lakin Stock, Amy Brockhouse, Carolina Stinson, Kayla Stock, Kayla Nickel, Jenna Post, Stephanie Lawson, Katelin McGinnis, Matt Snodgrass, Kristen Gaines, Breeanna Boulanger, Shawn Beck, Ryan Schone, Cory Meyer, and others

Choreography by Stephanie Nobis and Katie McDannald.

Production Notes

The Miracle Kid was written and directed by Ken Bradbury and produced as the all-school spring musical at Triopia High School in April 2004. As with all of Bradbury's shows, the cast was large by design — drawing in roughly thirty students across baseball players, showgirls, gangsters, vendors, and dancers — and it was run by the students themselves once the lights came up. Bradbury's research files for the production were exhaustive, including a full 1932 Chicago Cubs roster, 1930s slang, Chicago place names, and Cubs lore, all woven into a script that married real baseball history to broad period comedy. The band featured keyboardist Jon Carls, whose son Trenton was in the cast.