Thursday, October 1, 2026
Audiences love to see shows about famous people over the years and Broadway has not disappointed its audience. There have been shows about Martin Luther King, Eva Peron and Judy Garland. It’s like eavesdropping on history and learning secrets.
What’s a bit more complicated is theater about people who are still alive and in "Magic/Bird," the new play at the Longacre Theatre about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the audience doesn’t hear anything controversial or inflammatory. At the end, as is fitting, we come out truly liking the two main characters.
The play has a cast of six actors playing several roles and they are quite versatile, especially the lone female, Deirdre O’Connell, who is delightful as Bird’s mother.
The lead actors, Kevin Daniels, as Johnson, and Tug Coker, as Bird, are very good and have captured the speech patterns of the players, but both actors are about 6’5”, compared to the actual 6’9” players. Daniels is able to portray Johnson’s ebullient outgoing personality successfully, but Coker has the difficult task of portraying the taciturn Bird. Tough he was a good basketball player, Bird isn't exciting to watch when he speaks and some of his moments on stage are slow. However, this is not Coker's fault.
The play begins with Johnson’s historic announcement that he has HIV and then depicts the call from his good friend, Bird, followed by flashbacks of the rivalry between the two men, which finally thaws out when the two shoot a sneaker commercial together and Bird’s mother invites Johnson for lunch. The scene is easily the most enjoyable in the show.
Written by Eric Simonson, "Magic /Bird" is directed by Lombardi director Thomas Kail, the Tony Award nominated director of "In the Heights." An extra bonus for basketball fans is that Johnson himself will be available at some performances to do talk-backs.
"Magic / Bird" appeals to a niche audience, but it is doubtful that the play will be able to sustain itself in a Broadway theater. The show would have been better served in a smaller, off-Broadway house. It helps to be a Celtic or a Lakers fan, to know Red Auerbach, and to know what a layup shot is to really enjoy "Magic /Bird." If you wouldn’t watch a basketball game on television, then you shouldn’t spend your money here.
