Time to get that new tux or killer dress.

Waddell & Reed [profile], parent of Ivy Funds, will host a red-carpet screening of the new Jackie Robinson biopic 42.

The advance screening will be held in Kansas City on Thursday to benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the Kansas City Sports Commission. Kansas City is the only city other than Los Angeles to host a red-carpet advance screening of 42 before the film opens nationwide on Friday.

Legendary Pictures, the maker of 42, is a portfolio holding of one of the Ivy mutual funds.

Walking the red carpet in Kansas City will be some of the film's major stars, including Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford, who plays the Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey who first signed Jackie Robinson; Chadwick Boseman, who plays Jackie Robinson; Andre Holland, who plays sportswriter Wendell Smith; and Derek Phillips, who plays Dodgers baseball player Bobby Bragan. Legendary's Chairman and CEO, Thomas Tull, will also attend the red-carpet event in Kansas City.

  Former and current Major League Baseball players as well as several former KC Monarchs players or their relatives are also expected to attend, including David Robinson(the son of Jackie Robinson); Bob Motley (the last living umpire from the Negro Leagues);  former player Ulysses Hollimon, Linda Paige Shelby, daughter of Hall of Famer Satchel Paige); Lou Brock (National Baseball Hall of Famer and St. Louis Cardinal left-fielder); and DeMorris Smith (son of Hall of Famer Hilton Smith, who recommended Jackie Robinson to Monarchs owner JL Wilkinson).

Here is the press release:

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Company Press Release

Waddell & Reed? through its relationship with Legendary Pictures ? to host red-carpet advance screening of ?42,? the new Jackie Robinson film

  ?42? stars Harrison Ford, Chadwick Boseman to attend April 11th event in Kansas City to benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and Kansas City Sports Commission   Before Jackie was Number 42, he was Number 5 with the Kansas City Monarchs

  (Kansas City, MO, April 7, 2013) ? Waddell & Reed, through its relationship with Legendary Pictures, will host a special red-carpet advance screening of ?42? in Kansas City on Thursday, April 11, to benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the Kansas City Sports Commission. Kansas City is the only city other than Los Angeles to host a red-carpet advance screening of ?42? before the film opens nationwide on April 12.

  Through its mutual fund relationship with Legendary Pictures, Waddell & Reed became aware of the pending release of ?42,? the story of Jackie Robinson, whose career began with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1945, before he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947 after being recruited by Brooklyn Dodger?s GM Branch Rickey.  Legendary Pictures is a holding of one of the Ivy Funds, which are underwritten and distributed by an affiliate of Waddell & Reed.

  With its headquarters in Kansas City ,Waddell & Reed recognized the release of ?42? as a unique opportunity to support the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM), also located in Kansas City. The NLBM is the nation?s only museum devoted solely to preserving the history of the Negro Leagues. ?We are fortunate to partner with Legendary Pictures to help tell this dramatic story, while raising funds and awareness for an important institution,? said Thomas W. Butch, executive vice president of Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., and president and CEO of Ivy Funds, as well as chairman of the board of the Kansas City Sports Commission. ?Kansas City played a key role in Jackie Robinson?s ascension to national significance, and we felt it was fitting to host this special event in Kansas City to benefit a museum of national significance.?

  Walking the red carpet in Kansas City will be some of the film's major stars, including Academy AwardŽ nominee Harrison Ford, who plays the Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey who first signed Jackie Robinson; Chadwick Boseman, who plays Jackie Robinson; Andre Holland, who plays sportswriter Wendell Smith; andDerek Phillips, who plays Dodgers? baseball player Bobby Bragan. Legendary?s Chairman and CEO, Thomas Tull, will also attend the red-carpet event in Kansas City.

  Former and current Major League Baseball players as well as several former KC Monarchs players or their relatives are also expected to attend, including David Robinson(the son of Jackie Robinson); Bob Motley (the last living umpire from the Negro Leagues);  former player Ulysses Hollimon, Linda Paige Shelby, daughter of Hall of Famer Satchel Paige); Lou Brock (National Baseball Hall of Famer and St. Louis Cardinal left-fielder); and DeMorris Smith (son of Hall of Famer Hilton Smith, who recommended Jackie Robinson to Monarchs owner JL Wilkinson).

  The sold-out event will include a special presentation of the?42? jersey worn in the movie by Harrison Ford, Chadwick Boseman, Thomas Tull and Thomas Butch to Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Kendrick, who is well-versed in Robinson?s history and the Kansas City Monarchs, agreed that Kansas City makes a fitting location for an advance screening, noting that Robinson?s step into Major League Baseball marked the unofficial beginning of the civil rights movement in this country. The Kansas City Monarchs ultimately sent more players to MLB than any other Negro League franchise.

  Following the movie, a Q&A panel discussion will be moderated by Joe Posnanski, former sports writer for the Kansas City Star and Sports Illustrated and author of ?The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O?Neil?s America.? The panel will feature Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, David Robinson, and other baseball luminaries to be named.

  AMC Theatres, another Kansas City-based entity, is serving as host and venue sponsor, donating the entire theater space, theater team, concessions and spirits for the event.

  For more information about the Kansas City red-carpet advance screening of ?42? or to view a trailer of the movie, visit www.42Kansascity.com.  To download movie materials: https://www.epk.tv/   http://press.warnerbros.com/login.php.

  About Waddell & Reed

Waddell & Reed, founded in Kansas City in 1937, is one of the oldest mutual fund and financial planning companies in the country. Through its subsidiaries, Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. provides investment management and financial planning services to clients throughout the U.S. Waddell & Reed Investment Management Company serves as investment advisor to the Waddell & Reed Advisors Group of Mutual Funds, Ivy Funds Variable Insurance Portfolios and InvestEd Portfolios, while Ivy Investment Management Company serves as investment advisor to the Ivy Funds.   

About the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM), founded in 1990, is a privately funded, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the rich history of African-American baseball. The NLBM opened its permanent, 10,000 square-foot facility in 1997 in Kansas City, Missouri, where visitors can experience multi-media displays and hundreds of photographs and artifacts dating from the late 1800s through the 1960s.  

About the Kansas City Sports Commission

The Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation aims to enhance the quality of life and economic success of Greater Kansas City by taking the lead in maintaining and selectively acquiring a diversity of amateur and professional sporting events; to collaborate with area economic development agencies to attract and retain amateur and professional sports organizations; and to promote the lifetime benefits of sports for the youth of Greater Kansas City. The organization has helped generate in excess of $750 million in estimated economic impact on the surrounding Kansas City metropolitan area since 1990.

  About ?42?

Academy AwardŽ winner Brian Helgeland (?L.A. Confidential?) wrote and directed the drama ?42,? starring Chadwick Boseman (?The Express?) and OscarŽ nominee Harrison Ford (?Witness?).  ?42? is rated PG-13 for thematic elements including language.

                                    Hero is a word we hear often in sports, but heroism is not always about achievements on the field of play.  ?42? tells the story of two men?the great Jackie Robinson and legendary Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey?whose brave stand against prejudice forever changed the world by changing the game of baseball.  In 1946, Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) put himself at the forefront of history when he signed Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) to the team, breaking Major League Baseball?s infamous color line.  But the deal also put both Robinson and Rickey in the firing line of the public, the press and even other players.  Facing unabashed racism from every side, Robinson was forced to demonstrate tremendous courage and restraint by not reacting in kind, knowing that any incident could destroy his and Rickey?s hopes. 

  Instead, Number 42 let his talent on the field do the talking?ultimately winning over fans and his teammates, silencing his critics, and paving the way for others to follow. In 1997, Major League Baseball retired the number 42 for all teams, making it the first number in sports to be universally retired.  The only exception is April 15th?Jackie Robinson Day?commemorating the date of his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger.  On that day, players from every team proudly wear Number 42 to honor the man who altered the course of history.

  Rounding out the main cast of ?42? are: Nicole Beharie (?Shame?) as Rachel Isum, who would become Robinson?s wife; Christopher Meloni as Leo Durocher; Andre Holland as Wendell Smith; Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese; Hamish Linklater as Ralph Branca; Ryan Merriman as Dixie Walker; and T.R. Knight as Harold Parrott. The film is produced by Thomas Tull, with Dick Cook, Jon Jashni, and Jason Clark serving as executive producers, and Darryl Pryor and Jillian Zaks co-producing.

  Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures present, a Legendary Pictures Production, a Brian Helgeland film, ?42.?  Slated for release April 12, 2013, the film will open in time to commemorate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day - April 15, the date of his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger. 

 

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