“A PITCH FROM SATCHEL PAIGE” TO LEAD OFF BLACK HISTORY MONTH AT ZANKEL HALL AT CARNEGIE HALL ON FEBRUARY 2
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
BATTER UP!
“A PITCH FROM SATCHEL PAIGE”
TO LEAD OFF BLACK HISTORY MONTH AT
ZANKEL HALL AT CARNEGIE HALL
ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2
Satchel Paige. Photo by Matty Zimmerman / AP
Tickets can be found here.
New York, NY (Friday, December 5, 2025) – Producer Gene Fisch Jr announced that A Pitch From Satchel Paige, the solo show about the life of one of the greatest baseball pitchers of all time, will lead off Black History Month at Carnegie Hall. The one-night-only special performance, starring Russell C. Holt as the legendary Paige, will take place at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on Monday, February 2, at 7:30 p.m.
“We are in a time that pleads for a real superhero, a hero that can be appreciated by everyone and who will inspire us to be awesome. Satchel is that hero,” said Gene Fisch Jr “Leading his team to the World Series, pitching until the incredible age of 59, and doing it all with distinction and class made him a legend – and in this moment of negativity and strife in America, we need superheroes like him more than ever.”
“Many people know the uplifting story of Jackie Robinson crossing the color line, but fewer know about the struggle of those that came before Jackie,” said playwright Jim Keller. “Satchel’s story is that of hundreds of amazing black athletes who never got the chance to show the world what they could do.”
Before there was a hit by Jackie Robinson, there was a Pitch from Satchel Paige. A Pitch From Satchel Paige is a solo play by Loren and Jim Keller that brings the audience face-to-face with one of the greatest baseball pitchers of all time – and certainly one of the best storytellers. Paige’s story is one of overcoming the hardships of poverty and bigotry through talent, humor, and determination. “Satch” weaves a tale of challenge, inequality, accomplishment, and change, using exciting baseball moments and historical events to tell his story.
A Pitch From Satchel Paige previously made its world premiere for a limited engagement in April 2024 at the Paul Robeson Theatre in Buffalo, New York, after garnering attention with a 2018 launch at the New York New Works Theatre Festival.
P R O D U C T I O N C R E D I T S
A Pitch From Satchel Paige is produced by Gene Fisch Jr and directed by Verneice Turner.
B I O G R A P H I E S
Russell C. Holt (Satchel Paige) is an actor from Lackawanna, NY and an MFA Acting graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2022). He holds a BA in Media Studies (Video Production) with a Theatre minor from the University at Buffalo (2014). Since beginning his career in 2016, Russell has performed in Black Bear Island (Warren, Alleyway Theatre, 2025), A Pitch from Satchel Paige (Satchel Paige, Paul Robeson Theatre, 2024), and The Homecoming (Lenny, Torn Space Theater, 2023). He appears on screen in the Amazon Prime film Family Before Everything (Big Rick).
Verneice Turner (Director) Artie Awards (3) & Buffalo Spree Best Actress Award winner, started out at the African American Cultural Center of Buffalo NY, and she continued her study of the performing arts at SUNYAB. She has performed in productions in WNY & beyond, including Off-Broadway (NFT & NEC) as well as directed. She was the Artistic Director of The AACC ‘s Paul Robeson Theatre, from May 2023 to June 2024, mounting several productions, including A Pitch From Satchel Paige.
Jim Keller (Playwright) is a professional communicator with a varied background. He started as a city reporter in Upstate New York, then transitioned to sports marketing in NYC where he worked with and wrote about some of the greatest athletes and sporting events of recent generations. After serving as a spokesperson in Westchester County government, he spent the bulk of his career with IBM communications. He has taught writing courses at Marist College and Western Connecticut State University.
A Pitch from Satchel Paige was Jim’s first play and he also collaborated with his father, Loren Keller, on a two-person drama, Whitman/Wilde. Jim is writing two musical adaptations from film to the stage and working on an original comedic musical, tentatively called That Senior Moment.
Gene Fisch Jr (Producer) has spent two decades advocating for underrepresented voices to reach the stage and to provide exposure to the arts for those not typically given such opportunities. He regularly takes students from the South Bronx to the MET, to NYC theatre, and now to Carnegie Hall. He is a facilitator for LGBTQ shows reaching the stage, has invested and helped bring dozens of shows written by women, people of color, and those who could not afford to produce their work in an effort to literally change the landscape of theater. CFO of Alpha Innovations, adjunct prof “Best Instructor” award at Steven’s Institute of Technology, Flotilla Commander U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, certified rescue diver, two-time Ironman, lectures at MIT on occasion, co-authored thesis producing an automobile in India that gets 173mpg (out of MIT)— rounds out a wonderful set of resources to better the arts community.
A B O U T C A R N E G I E H A L L
Since 1891, New York City’s Carnegie Hall has set the international standard for excellence in performance. From Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Mahler, and Bartók to George Gershwin, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, and The Beatles, music-making by a long list of artists representing the best of every genre has filled Carnegie Hall over the years.
Today, the venue remains one of the world’s greatest concert halls and an active cultural destination for artists and audiences with offerings including series curated by acclaimed artists and composers, citywide festivals featuring collaborations with leading cultural institutions, orchestral performances, chamber music, new music concerts, and recitals; and the best in jazz, global, and popular music. Complementing hundreds of performances on its stages each season, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute creates extensive music education and social impact programs that serve hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, playing a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible. For more information, please visit carnegiehall.org
T I C K E T I N F O R M A T I O N
Tickets for A Pitch For Satchel Paige are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased on the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org, by calling (212) 247-7800, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue. When purchased through carnegiehall.org or by phone, a non-refundable convenience fee of $10 applies per ticket. There is no convenience fee charged on any tickets purchased in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office. Artists, programs, and prices are subject to change.
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