Dallas

Dallas Theater Center Presents: The Great Society

Now – April 1

NBC 5 and the 2017 Regional Theatre Tony Award® Recipient Dallas Theater Center (DTC) invite you to experience The Great Society though April 1 at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre.

Following the success of DTC’s 2016 production of All the Way, The Great Society continues the story of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s turbulent presidency in the second part of Robert Schenkkan’s epic theatrical event. While the president fights a “war on poverty” at home, his war in Vietnam begins to spiral out of control. Besieged by political enemies, Johnson desperately fights to pass civil rights legislation and some of the most important social programs in American history, even as the country turns against him and descends into chaos. Filled with a cast of legendary characters from the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Bobby Kennedy and Richard Nixon, The Great Society is an exhilarating examination of power, morality and change.

Returning as Johnson is Brandon Potter (Inherit the Wind, All the Way, Deferred Action). Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company members Ace Anderson (Hair, Inherit the Wind, Public Works Dallas’ The Tempest) and Tiana Kaye Johnson (Hair, Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure, Electra) will play the roles of Stokely Carmichael/Jimmie Lee Jackson and Coretta Scott King/Sally Childress. Additional cast members include Tyrese Allen (Electra, The Christians) as James Bevel/the Rev. Dobynes; James Black as Walter Cronkite; David Coffee (Electra, Fly by Night) as J. Edgar Hoover; Shawn Hamilton (All the Way) as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Chris Hury (Romeo and Juliet, Medea) as Jim Clark/George Wallace/Richard Nixon; Chris Hutchison (All the Way) as Robert McNamara/Wilbur Mills; David Matranga as Adam Walinsky/Gen. Westmoreland; Dean Nolen as Hubert Humphrey; David Rainey (All the Way) as Adam Clayton Powell/Ralph Abernathy; Santry Rush as Richard Daley/Dr. James Appel; Leah Spillman (Gloria, All the Way,) as Lady Bird Johnson; Jay Sullivan as Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Todd Waite as Sen. Everett Dirksen/Lingo/Clifford. Southern Methodist University students in the cast include Lindsay Ryan (The Christians) as Sheriff’s Auxiliary/Muriel Humphrey/Pat Nixon and Ryan Woods (Gloria) as Bob Moses/Father Clements.

Tony Award-winning set designer Beowulf Boritt (All the Way, A Christmas Carol, Tempest) returns, alongside costume designer Jen Caprio (A Christmas Carol, All the Way, Medea); original music and sound design by Broken Chord (Hair, Electra, All the Way); lighting design by Clifton Taylor (All the Way, Deferred Action) and projection design by Caite Hevner (All the Way, Deferred Action).

DTC’s Come Early will take place before every performance, and DTC’s Stay Late will take place after each performance. Come Early is a free, 30-minute informative talk designed to enhance a patron’s play-going experience. Given one hour before every performance, a member of the cast or artistic staff will share details about the play’s origins and context, as well as share insight into the creative process behind the production. Stay Late is a free, brief, post-show conversation with a member of the cast about the show. Patrons will engage with the artists, learn about the production and be able to share their insights about the play in a lively discussion. Stay Late is presented by Wells Fargo. Support for The Great Society is provided by Executive Producing Partner Fanchon and Howard Hallam and Assistant Producing Partners Haynes and Boone, LLP and PwC.

ABOUT DALLAS THEATER CENTER
One of the leading regional theaters in the country and the 2017 Regional Theatre Tony Award® Recipient, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs to an audience of more than 100,000 North Texas residents annually. Founded in 1959, DTC is now a resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and presents its Mainstage season at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas and at its original home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the only freestanding theater designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. DTC is one of only two theaters in Texas that is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, the largest and most prestigious non-profit professional theater association in the country. Under the leadership of Enloe/Rose Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Managing Director Jeffrey Woodward, DTC produces a seven-play subscription series of classics, musicals and new plays and an annual production of A Christmas Carol; extensive education programs, including the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award-winning Project Discovery, SummerStage and partnerships with Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts; and many community collaborations. In 2017, in collaboration with SMU Meadows, DTC launched Public Works Dallas, a groundbreaking community engagement and participatory theater project designed to deliberately blur the line between professional artists and community members, culminating in an annual production featuring more than 200 Dallas citizens performing a Shakespeare play. Throughout its history, DTC has produced many new works, including The Texas Trilogy by Preston Jones in 1978; Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, adapted by Adrian Hall, in 1986; and recent premieres of Miller, Mississippi by Boo Killebrew; Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn; Bella: An American Tall Tale by Kirsten Childs; Clarkston by Samuel D. Hunter and Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical by Robert Horn, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. The Dallas Theater Center season sponsors include Texas Instruments, American Airlines, Lexus and NBC 5.

For tickets, visit www.DallasTheaterCenter.org or call (214) 880-0202.

Dallas Theater Center Presents:
The Great Society

By Robert Schenkkan
Directed by Kevin Moriarty
Now – April 1
Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre
2400 Flora St.
Dallas, TX 75201
www.DallasTheaterCenter.org
Box Office: (214) 880-0202


Contact Us