A League of Their Own creators Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham lead the way at LA premiere of series

A League of Their Own creators Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham were among the people on hand at the premiere of the new Amazon series in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The forthcoming eight-episode series is based off the All-American professional women’s baseball league that emerged during World War II. The series stems from the 1992 film from the late Penny Marshall, which had a cast including Rosie O’Donnell, Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Madonna.

Jacobson, 38, looked elegant in a fire orange gown with long sleeves and open-toe sandals. Jacobson, who plays Carson Shaw in the series, wore her dark brown locks down and parted as she posed during entrances.

Graham wore a navy blue checkered suit with a white tie and brown shoes at the screening. 

Chanté Adams, 27, who plays Maxine ‘Max’ Chapman on the show, beamed as she donned a plunging black gown with a thigh slit and strappy black heels. 

The actress carried a black purse with chain as she had her locks styled back in a long braid at the event. 

D’Arcy Carden, 42, who plays Greta Gill on the show, was clad in a shoulderless pear green dress with brown strappy heels as she made her entrance at the screening. 

Priscilla Delgado, 20, who plays Esti on the show, looked amazing as she donned a shoulderless black silk dress with her wavy brown locks parted to the side. She wore a diamond necklace and carried a boxy silver purse with pointed black heels. 

Gbemisola Ikumelo, who plays Clance on the series, donned a floral patterned lavender dress with gold open-toe sandals and hoop earrings. 

Roberta Colindrezy, 36, who plays Lupe on the series, donned a chartreuse ensemble of a shoulderless top with matching pants and textured shoes. She had her black locks parted in braids at the screening of the series. 

Kelly McCormack, 31, who portrays Jess McCready on the series, donned a black leather jacket over a multicolored top with cream colored slacks and black shoes. She had her dark brown locks parted and wore sunglasses.  

Molly Ephraim, 36, who plays Maybelle Fox, donned a dress with a plunging black top with a puffy blue bottom with black open-toe sandals. She carried a silver purse and had her dark locks neatly parted. 

Melanie Field, 34, who plays Jo De Luca, donned an off-white patterned skirt with ruffled shoulders and strappy beige heels. 

Aaron Jennings, 33, who plays Guy on the series, looked stylish in a baby blue suit with grey sneakers. 

Australian singer Betty Who, 30, wore a grey vest with a navy blue suit and white sneakers, with her short blonde locks parted.

Megan Cavanagh, 61, who appeared in the 1992 film as Marla Hooch, donned a blue ensemble with white horizontal stripes to the event. 

In addition to cast members, a number of sports luminaries were present for the summer screening Thursday. Maybelle Blair, 95, an alum of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, wore a white baseball jacket with red trimming and black pants with black loafers as she posed with a baseball bat-fashioned cane. Softball icon Billie Harris wore a black blouse with matching pants as she attended the function.

Amazon said in a statement that the series ‘evokes the joyful spirit of Penny Marshall’s beloved classic, while widening the lens to tell the story of an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing professional baseball.’

The streaming service said the series ‘takes a deeper look at race and sexuality, following the journey of a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve their own paths towards the field, both in the league and outside of it.’

The show is set in 1943 and based on a different team than the Rockford Peaches, the squad featured in the film 30 years ago.

O’Donnell said on the Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino podcast last July that she was set to play ‘a bartender in one of the scenes at the local gay bar.’

Series creators Jacobson and Will Graham spoke with The Hollywood Reporter in August of 2020 about the show, explaining the drive to explore areas including racism and sexuality.

Graham said he ‘had always been obsessed with the movie,’ adding, ‘I played Little League for eight years and I’m queer and it was torture and I never felt like I fit in.

‘That’s part of why I was so obsessed with the movie as a kid. It’s a story that has this queer subtext about how you can find a place on the field. I started looking into the queer history of the league and started thinking of it.’

Jacobson said she ‘grew up loving the movie as well’ and she ‘was in the middle of writing season four of Broad City’ when Graham asked her to do the project.

‘We had just done this episode with a montage of powerful, revolutionary women, and our editor at the time wanted to put Mamie Johnson in it,’ she told the publication. ‘I didn’t know who she was. She was one of the first and only Black women to play in the male Negro leagues professionally.

‘When Will and I started talking about the ways in which we wanted to do our version, that felt more real, nuanced and gritty and [a way to] incorporate more women’s stories.’

The show is a collaboration between Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television with Field Trip Productions; and based off of the screenplay from Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel.

A League of Their Own is set to debut August 12 on Prime Video.