Losing is Not an Option

Billie Jean

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” That’s how legendary tennis pro Billie Jean King summed up the initiative and motivation that propelled her life and, in fact, her entire career. Losing is not an option because “Victory is fleeting and losing is forever,” Ms. King quipped during a news interview.

Written by one of the most talented and prolific contemporary playwrights in America, Lauren M. Gunderson (I AND YOU, THE BOOK OF WILL, SILENT SKY, the MISS BENNET trilogy) has added another significant script to her huge library of successes. Telling the life story of the great American tennis superstar Billie Jean King certainly wasn’t an easy task. So 

Ms. Gunderson chose instead to just hit the principal highlights of the athlete’s personal life and decades-long career. What theatergoers get is a story that motivates, amazes and entertains. 

Young Billie Jean Moffitt began her tennis career as a highly driven eleven-year-old in Long Beach, California. She started out by taking advantage of the free tennis lessons offered at the public courts. Soon the gifted teenager was competing in and winning tournament after tournament. Recognized for her aggressive playing style and known for standing up for her rights, Billie Jean’s first conflict with the status quo was for a team photograph. In 1955 (and for several years afterwards) women were expected to wear a short, white tennis dress when playing professional tennis, but instead the youngster wore shorts that her mother had made for her. As a result, she was prohibited from being in the team picture. However, this wouldn’t be Billie Jean’s only challenge to the way things are.

From this tenacious beginning, theatergoers will learn how the powerhouse player became a relentless competitor and a living legend. The multi award-winning international Sports Icon is known for her talent, skill and strong advocacy for gender equality and social justice. Billie Jean King’s name soon became synonymous with the Women’s Liberation  movement. She campaigned against discrimination in women’s sports, including advocating for fair and equal pay for female athletes. Billie Jean gave her support to the Education Equality Act and founded the Women’s Sports Foundation and womenSports Magazine. 

From local competitions to Wimbledon and beyond, Billie Jean King’s especially remembered for the much-publicized “Battle of the Sexes” competition against chauvinistic tennis pro, Bobby Riggs. The gifted athlete appeared in twelve finals, twenty-eight quarterfinals and garnered over a hundred singles titles. She also grew to become a strong, courageous woman who faced discrimination because she wasn’t afraid to be herself and love who she loved. As in her personal life, Billie Jean King always proudly proclaimed that losing was not an option. 

This production, which has its sights set on a Broadway run, is guided with great energy and unbridled spirit by New York Director, Marc Bruni (THE GREAT GATSBY, BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROL KING STORY). He’s superbly aided by Steph Paul’s remarkable, sharply choreographed Movement Direction and Eva Breneman’s expert Dialect Coaching. The production looks clean and simple, but that’s because Wilson Chin’s Scenic Design cleverly stages every scene on an astroturf-covered tennis court, bookended by stadium seating and bisected by a  revolving turntable tennis net. A suspended scoreboard drops in periodically, providing all sorts of necessary information, thanks to the artistry of Video & Projection Designer David Bengali. The ambiance of the production is enhanced by some clever Lighting, Designed by Jen Schriever, and a brilliant Soundscape, Created by Jane Shaw. Tony Award-winning Costume Designer Linda Cho’s simple, yet stylish, neutral-colored athletic wear adds so much to each character, with Tom Watson’s Hair & Makeup Designs the icing on the cake.

The cast is filled with Broadway, television and film professionals who mightily impress, often playing multiple roles. Billie Jean is magnificently portrayed with power and passion by Chilina Kennedy. Remembered for playing Carol King in BEAUTIFUL on Broadway, as well as Annie in PARADISE SQUARE and, more recently, Myrtle in THE GREAT GATSBY, Ms. Kennedy is quite simply sensational. Capably she both narrates Billie Jean’s story while also portraying the athlete with so much vigor, dignity, and spirit. In the earlier scenes, 11-year-old Billie Jean is convincingly played with nuance and know-how by lovely, talented Julia Antonelli. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that Ms. Antonelli’s performance is both excellent casting and one of the most joyous highlights of this production.

In addition to the two gifted actresses portraying the titular character, Billie Jean’s loving, devoted and supportive husband, Larry King, is beautifully played by handsome stage, film and television actor Dan Amboyer. Billie Jean’s longtime devoted friend and doubles partner, Rosie Casals, is portrayed by terrific TV, film and Broadway actress, Elena Hurst. As Man One, respected professional character actor Wynn Harmon nicely plays several of the mature male roles, including Billie Jean’s dear father, Bill Moffitt. Talented Chicago actor Jurgen Hooper, who’s been seen at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in COMEDY OF ERRORS and at Drury Lane in THE AUDIENCE and THE 39 STEPS, powerfully plays a number of roles as Man Two. And while all the actresses who portray a diverse collection of female characters impressed, one of the most remarkable is Murphy Taylor Smith, as Woman Four. This talented actress, when not a member of the lady tennis players ensemble, especially excels portraying World Tennis Magazine publisher, Gladys Heldman, as well as transgender tennis star, Renee Richards.

Lauren M. Gunderson describes her most recent, Broadway bound play as being about women in motion. The focus is on one of the most famous female athletes in the world: Billie Jean King. It’s a story told in singles and mixed doubles, depicting highlights from the life of a champion and true trailblazer. 

Ms. King continues to be an American icon, a true champion from the sporting world who, like all winners, persevered against the odds and refused to accept failure. Translated from the page into sheer poetry in motion, Director Marc Bruni and Movement Director Steph Paul serve up a talented cast who deliver a captivating story about a life that is still a work in progress. A true tale of valor, BILLIE JEAN shows the audience that for winners, losing is not an option.                        

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented July 18-August 10 by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in the Yard Theatre, 800 E. Grand Avenue on Navy Pier, Chicago.

Tickets are available at the CST box office, by calling 312.595.5600 or by going to www.chicagoshakes.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com