Kansas City's role in the integration of baseball is a popular subject these days. The recent release of 42, the movie about Jackie Robinson's integration into Major League Baseball premiered in Kansas City, home of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, this month. UMKC Theatre is also tackling the subject with the debut of its play Kansas City Swing.
On this Central Standard, we talk with playwright Ricardo Khan, actor Janae Mitchell, and Dr. Raymond Doswell, the curator of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Our guests provide a historical context to the play and explain why this moment in the history of baseball is important to reproduce theatrically.