(bright music) - Pioneer Theatre Company's "King James" is a funny and deeply poignant story about two friends whose lives are forever shaped by their shared devotion to their idol, LeBron James.

Yeah, I said it like that.

(laughs) Here to tell us more is Joshua Black.

Welcome, Joshua.

- Hi.

Thanks for having me back.

- So tell me a little bit more about this play.

- So it's by Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright Rajiv Joseph.

It tells the story of Matt and Sean over the course of 12 years, who have the fortune, also the torture, of being LeBron James fans, particularly while he's with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but it also follows these two young men over pivotal moments in their lives over the 12-year period, and it's also just as much about modern male friendship as it is about sports fandom.

- [Liz] Why is this an important story to tell during this time?

- I think it's an incredibly universal story.

I'm personally not a huge basketball aficionado, but I find the story of this friendship to be so engaging, and everyone will find something to relate to this story, and I think that's what good theater really does, regardless of the content.

- Absolutely.

What do you hope the audience takes away from this?

- I hope that they see... I hope I see themselves in these characters a bit.

I also, I just hope they're entertained and have a great time.

It's at the Meldrum Theater, which is of course, the old Fieldhouse here on the University of Utah campus, so we're bringing an athletic-themed play, which feels very fitting.

The space is beautiful, it's brand new, well, two years old, but it's going to be a really lovely evening out.

- So exciting to know that this is something that we can go and check out, and it seems like it would be really good for families, right?

- I would say 14 and older.

It's definitely rated R, particularly for some adult language, but yeah, it's a good evening out.

- All right.

Well, thank you very much.

I'm excited to check it out, and I hope our audience will go and check it out as well.

If you would like to see "King James" with Pioneer Theatre Company, it's happening March 20th through April 4th at the Meldrum Theater, and all you have to do is go to pioneertheatre.org to get more information and those tickets.

Thank you so much for joining us and tuning in.

This is "Contact."

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