A Big Day for Baseball: Poster Evolution

Posted on by Thor


I think this was the second poster concept I produced for A Big Day for Baseball playing now at The Shakes (812 E Rollins Street, Orlando, FL 32803). Jackie Robinson in in the dugout and childhood fans are clamoring for an autograph while leaning over the roof of the dugout. I don’t know if this is historically accurate but it should have been.

A Big Day for Baseball: A Magic Tree House Adventure runs through March 18, 2023. The show is a fun musical romp based on the book A Big Day for Baseball from the acclaimed Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne! I read the script and it sounds like a fun time but I haven’t seen the show yet.

The Magic Tree House whisks the siblings, Jack and Annie, away to a baseball game in 1947 Brooklyn, New York, where they meet baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson and must figure out what’s so special about this specific game – in under nine innings!

A Big Day for Baseball: Poster Evolution

Posted on by Thor

The first poster I did for A Big Day for Baseball: A Magic Tree House Adventure was rather documentary in nature. I wanted to re-create what the day looked like when Jackie Robinson walked onto the field in 1947 as the first African American athlete. Some fans were thrilled while others were not. Jackie focused on what he knew best, which was playing baseball.

At this point I didn’t know much about the book series on which the play was based. I was just batting ideas around. The title itself changed while I was working on the posters to A Big Day for Jackie Robinson: A Magic Tree House Adventure. Eventually the team name of Dodgers was removed form the art, probably for legal reasons. I don’t mind small changes like that, the big problem is finding just the right image to tell the story.

Jack and Annie are back in this musical journey, based on the book A Big Day for Baseball from the acclaimed Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne! The Magic Tree House whisks the siblings away to a baseball game in 1947 Brooklyn, New York, where they meet baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson and must figure out what’s so special about this specific game – in under nine innings!

The show continues to run through March 18, 2023 at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 E Rollins St
Orlando, FL 32803).

A Big Day for Baseball: Poster Evolution, Final

Posted on by Thor

A Big Day for Baseball: A Magic Tree House Adventure is playing at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater through March 18, 2023. This poster is closely based on the book designs of the very popular Magic Tree House series. I did multiple designs based on the Jackie Robinson story, but those tended to look more like they were for adults. Returning t the leaf and acorn design motif lightened the mood of the poster.

I read the script and it should be a very fun play about kids being able to be on the field for a very historic baseball game. Jackie Robibnson was the the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). Robinson made his debut in a Dodgers uniform wearing number 42 on April 11, 1947, in a preseason exhibition game against the New York Yankees at Ebbets Field with 24,237 in attendance. These two lucky kids get to experience the day as a bat boy and girl from the field. It should be an exciting day of theater.