Pia Wilson's 'Effa Loves Baseball' Premieres at Kean University

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The cast features Justin Walter Cook, Grant Kennedy Lewis, DeShawn Harold Mitchell, David Andrew Morton, Greg Alverez Reid, and Kerry Warren as Effa Manley.

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Premiere Stages at Kean University will present the premiere production of Effa Loves Baseball by Pia Wilson, the recipient of the 2025/26 Liberty Live Commission, October 15-25 in Kean University's Enlow Recital Hall. Directed by marcus d. harvey , Effa Loves Baseball features Justin Walter Cook , Grant Kennedy Lewis, DeShawn Harold Mitchell , David Andrew Morton , Greg Alverez Reid , and Kerry Warren as Effa Manley.

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In this new play based on the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Effa Manley manages the Newark Eagles, a team she wants to take all the way to the Negro League World Series. Effa battles the press, coaching staff, segregation, and sometimes herself to win at the business of the game she loves most of all. She doesn't worry about what it will cost her, even if it's everything.

Pia Wilson wrote the audio component in the Harriet Tubman Monument in Newark, New Jersey, performed by Queen Latifah . She is also a 2024 Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove participant, Traveling Master for Dramatist Guild Foundation, resident with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Sundance fellow, and member of the 2008 Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater . Her plays have been produced across the country.

The professional design team includes Set Designer Frank D. Oliva, Costume Designer Niiamar Felder, Lighting Designer Zack Gage, Sound Designer Joanna Lynne Staub , Props Master Ellie Sweeney, Wig Designer Rachelle Dorce, Scenic Artist Mo Lehmberg and Intimacy Choreographer Sanjana Taskar. Casting is by Judy Bowman Casting . Dale Smallwood is the Production Stage Manager and Roe Manzo is the Assistant Stage Manager.

Effa Loves Baseball runs October 15 - 25 in Enlow Recital Hall on Kean University's East Campus in Hillside, N.J. The performance schedule is Thursdays, October 15 at 7:30 pm and October 22 at 10:30 am, Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 3:00pm & 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm.

Nominate your favorite local productions and performers before the deadline on October 31, 2026.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/new-jersey/article/EFFA-LOVES-BASEBALL-World-Premiere-to-be-Presented-at-Kean-University-20260923)._