Kenichi Zenimura - known as "Zeni" - loved baseball. As a young man in the 1920s he developed a Nisei baseball league in Fresno, California, and later organized barnstorming tours that brought the likes of Babe Ruth to the West Coast and Japan. And despite being sent to a Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona during World War II, he knew that somehow, baseball would be the key to improving the lives of his fellow detainees.
This play is sponsored by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.
Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood, in October 2024.
Directed by Anna Lyse Erikson Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg
An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast recording, starring:
Keiko Agena as Kiyoko Zenimura Michael Sun Lee as Kenichi Zenimura (Zeni) John Miyasaki as Hiro Tanaka and others Rob Nagle as Coach Hank and others Thomas Winter as Harvey Zenimura Additional voices by Tristan Chung, C.J. Cruz, Genki Hall, Derrick Kemp, Rosie Narasaki, Tristan Pravong, and Paul Yen.
Senior Producer: Anna Lyse Erikson Prepared for audio by Mark Holden Recording Engineer and Editor: Neil Wogenson Mixing Engineer: Charles Carroll Designed by Mark Holden and Charles Carroll for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood Senior Radio Producer: Ronn Lipkin Foley Artist: Stacey Martinez
Special thanks to Bill Staples, Jr., and the Nisei Baseball Research Project for sharing their research and expertise to inspire and accurately depict the historical events of this project.
With a full cast led by Michael Sun Lee as the title character, this audio drama takes listeners to the Japanese-American internment camps of WWII. Zeni is a former baseball star who shares his beloved sport with his fellow detainees to give them a sense of purpose and dignity. The writing is occasionally clunky, and some of the acting is overly earnest, but there are compelling performances by ne
