The Red Skies Music Ensemble's "...historical and musical probing of the real story of Katie Casey is one of the most exciting and rewarding projects I've encountered in ages.  It's guaranteed to stimulate your mind and tap your feet."   Lee Lowenfish, author of the award-winning baseball biography "Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman" and former editor-publisher of Lee Low's New York Jazz Newsletter

"Take Me Out to the 
Ball Game:" The Story of Katie Casey, Suffrage       and Our National Pastime


Verse 1
Katie Casey was base ball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad;
Just to root for the home town crew,  
ev'ry sou Katie blew.
On a Saturday, her young beau
called to see if she'd like to go,
To see a show but Miss Kate said "No, I'll tell you what you can do: 
Chorus
Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

Katie Casey’s reply was a refrain that would be echoed by generations of baseball fans, most of them unaware of the social significance of the song's rarely-heard complete verses. 

Co-authored by George Boziwick and Trudy Williams, the program includes  a vivid research-based narration, a dozen songs, theatrical roles, and digitized archival imagery. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game:" The Story of Katie Casey, Suffrage and Our National Pastime is about more than just a "baseball song". 
​Shine On Harvest Moon
Norworth/Bayes  (1908)
Gee It's a Wonderful Game  
​Ring Lardner/"Doc" White (1910)
The song's lyrics provide the little known, fascinating connection between baseball, music, suffrage, social activism and vaudeville.  
​
​Against the background of the tune's Irish-American heroine, her love of baseball, and women's rights activism, this engaging program traces and animates the social and musical interactions by which the song's chorus grew into one of America's most popular refrains.

   Take Me Out to the Ball Game 
Norworth/Von Tilzer (1908)

      Special guest at 2012 program: 
Ed Alstrom, New York Yankees Organist 
Take Your Girl to the BallGame 
​Cohan and Jerome & Schwartz (1908)
Performances
Versions of this program were performed at:

​2019: The Library of Congress, in conjunction with the exhibits Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote, and Baseball Americana.

2012/2016: Lincoln Center Public Program Series at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
2012 Performance Musicians photo: Kevin Yatarola
Performance photos: Janice Wood Wetzel
Music Selections 
The selection provided here were recorded live at the 2012 performance.

Images 
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts: Music and Recorded Sound Division; Billy Rose Theatre Division. The New York Public Library: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy. 
Ensemble 
Artistic Director/Curator: Trudy Williams
Curator/Music Director: George Boziwick 
Co-Authors: George Boziwick, Trudy Williams 
Roles
Narrator: George Boziwick
Katey Casey: Laura Hankin
Sean: Sean Mahony
Ida B. Wells: Pier Morton
Elihu Root: Jonathan Sonneborn
Suffrage Song Leader: Heidi Hackney
Musicians
Vocals: Laura Hankin (2016/19)
            Sigali Hamberger (2012)
            Sean Mahoney
Backup vocals: Sara Banleigh; Heidi Hackney        
Piano: Sara Banleigh, Ed Alstrum (special guest, 2016) 
Clarinet: Matthew Snyder
Trombone: Sean Mahony
Mandolin, Guitar: Rob Meador
Banjo: Leah Wells (2012)
Harmonica: George Boziwick
Bass: Trudy Williams
Percussion: Phil Forbes
Copyright 2022 George Boziwick and Trudy Williams