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All the Way

Page 2

by Robert Schenkkan


  No matter when you are seeing this play during its run—as we head ever closer to Election Day on November 6—I trust that All the Way will take you deep into the period of its setting but also deep into the heart of who we are, and why we are who we are, as a nation today.

  Bill Rauch

  2012

  All the Way

  PRODUCTION CREDITS

  All the Way was commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for their American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle, a ten-year program of up to thirty-seven new plays about moments of change in United States History. It received its world premiere at the Angus Bowmer Theatre in Ashland, Oregon, on July 28, 2012. The production was directed by Bill Rauch. Christopher Acebo, Scenic Design; Deborah M. Dryden, Costume Design; Mark McCullough, Lighting Design; Shawn Sagady, Projections Design; Paul James Prendergast, Original Music & Sound Design; Tom Bryant, Dramaturgy; Rebecca Clark Carey, Voice & Text Director; U. Jonathan Toppo, Fight Director; D. Christian Bolender, Stage Manager; Mandy Younger, Assistant Stage Manager; Joy Dickson, Casting Consultant; Emily Sophia Knapp, Associate Director; Kristin Ellert, Assistant Video Designer; Monica Keaton, Production Assistant & Script Assistant. The production sponsors were The Chautauqua Guild, Charlotte Lin and Robert P. Porter, Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Kinsman Foundation. The cast was as follows:

  President Lyndon Baines Johnson

  Jack Willis

  J. Edgar Hoover; Senator Robert Byrd

  Richard Elmore

  Sen. Hubert Humphrey;

  Sen. Strom Thurmond

  Peter Frechette

  Robert McNamara; Sen. James Eastland;

  Gov. Paul B. Johnson Jr.

  Mark Murphey

  Gov. George Wallace; Sen. Paul Douglas;

  Walter Reuther

  Jonathan Haugen

  Cartha “Deke” DeLoach;

  Rep. Howard “Judge” Smith;

  Sen. Everett Dirksen; Gov. Carl Sanders

  David Kelly

  Sen. Richard Russell; Jim Martin

  Douglas Rowe

  Walter Jenkins; Rep. William Colmer

  Christopher Liam Moore

  Stanley Levison; Seymore Trammell;

  Rev. Edwin King

  Daniel T. Parker

  Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

  Kenajuan Bentley

  Rev. Ralph Abernathy

  Tyrone Wilson

  Roy Wilkins; MFDP Delegate

  Derrick Lee Weeden

  Bob Moses; David Dennis

  Kevin Kenerly

  James Harrison; Stokely Carmichael;

  James Chaney

  Wayne T. Carr

  Lady Bird Johnson; Katherine Graham

  Terri McMahon

  Secretary; Lurleen Wallace;

  Muriel Humphrey

  Erica Sullivan

  Coretta Scott King; Fannie Lou Hamer

  Gina Daniels

  All the Way had its New England premiere at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on September 13, 2013, and officially opened on September 19, 2013. Diane Paulus, Artistic Director; William Russo, Managing Director; Diane Borger, Producer. The production was directed by Bill Rauch. Christopher Acebo, Set Design; Deborah M. Dryden, Costume Design; Jane Cox, Lighting Design; Paul James Prendergast, Sound Design & Composition; Shawn Sagady, Projections; Tom Bryant, Dramaturgy; Rebecca Clark Carey, Dialect Coach. The cast was as follows:

  President Lyndon Baines Johnson

  Bryan Cranston

  Lady Bird Johnson; Katherine Graham;

  Rep. Katharine St. George

  Betsy Aidem

  Walter Jenkins; Rep. William Colmer

  Christopher Liam Moore

  Secretary; Lurleen Wallace;

  Muriel Humphrey

  Susannah Schulman

  Sen. Hubert Humphrey;

  Sen. Strom Thurmond

  Reed Birney

  Sen. Richard Russell;

  Rep. Emanuel Celler; Jim Martin

  Dakin Matthews

  J. Edgar Hoover; Senator Robert Byrd

  Michael McKean

  Robert McNamara; Sen. James Eastland;

  Rep. William Moore McCulloch;

  Gov. Paul B. Johnson Jr.

  Arnie Burton

  Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

  Brandon J. Dirden

  Rev. Ralph Abernathy;

  White House Butler

  J. Bernard Calloway

  Stanley Levison; Rep. John McCormack;

  Seymore Trammell; Rev. Edwin King

  Ethan Phillips

  James Harrison; Stokely Carmichael

  William Jackson Harper

  Cartha “Deke” DeLoach;

  Rep. Howard “Judge” Smith;

  Sen. Everett Dirksen; Gov. Carl Sanders

  Richard Poe

  Coretta Scott King; Fannie Lou Hamer

  Crystal A. Dickinson

  Gov. George Wallace; Rep. James Corman;

  Joseph Alsop; Sen. Mike Mansfield;

  Walter Reuther

  Dan Butler

  Roy Wilkins; Shoeshiner; Aaron Henry

  Peter Jay Fernandez

  Bob Moses; David Dennis

  Eric Lenox Abrams

  All the Way received its New York City premiere at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway, with previews beginning on February 10 and opening on March 6, 2014. The production was directed by Bill Rauch and production credits are as above, except: Jane Cox, Lighting Design; Wendall K. Harrington, Projection Consultant; Paul Huntley, Hair & Wig Design; Peter Fitzgerald, Sound Consultant; Telsey & Company and William Cantler, CSA, Casting; William Farrell, Production Stage Manager; Hudson Theatrical Associates, Technical Supervision; Irene Gandy/Alana Karpoff, Press Representative; AKA, Advertising; Alexandra Agosta, Company Manager; Richards/Climan, Inc., General Management. All the Way was originally produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards, Louise Gund, Jerry Frankel, Stephanie P. McClelland, Double Gemini Productions, Rebecca Gold, Scott M. Delman, Barbara H. Freitag, Harvey Weinstein, Gene Korf, William Berlind, Caiola Productions, Gutterman Chernoff, Jam Theatricals, Gabrielle Palitz, Cheryl Wiesenfeld, Will Trice. The Associate Producers were Rob Hinderliter & Dominick LaRuffa Kr., Michael Crea, PJ Miller. The cast was as follows (in order of speaking):

  President Lyndon Baines Johnson


  Bryan Cranston

  Lady Bird Johnson; Katherine Graham;

  Rep. Katharine St. George

  Betsy Aidem

  Walter Jenkins; Rep. William Colmer

  Christopher Liam Moore

  Secretary; Lurleen Wallace;

  Muriel Humphrey;

  Sen. Maurine Neuberger

  Erica Sullivan

  Sen. Hubert Humphrey

  Robert Petkoff

  Sen. Richard Russell

  John McMartin

  J. Edgar Hoover; Senator Robert Byrd

  Michael McKean

  Robert McNamara; Sen. James Eastland;

  Rep. William Moore McCulloch;

  Gov. Paul B. Johnson Jr.

  James Eckhouse

  Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

  Brandon J. Dirden

  Rev. Ralph Abernathy; Butler

  J. Bernard Calloway

  Stanley Levison; Rep. John McCormack;

  Seymore Trammell; Rev. Edwin King

  Ethan Phillips

  James Harrison; Stokely Carmichael

  William Jackson Harper

  Cartha “Deke” DeLoach;

  Rep. Howard “Judge” Smith;

  Sen. Everett Dirksen; Gov. Carl Sanders

  Richard Poe

  Coretta Scott King; Fannie Lou Hamer

  Roslyn Ruff

  Gov. George Wallace; Rep. James Corman;

  Joseph Alsop; Sen. Mike Mansfield;

  Walter Reuther

  Rob Campbell

  Roy Wilkins; Shoeshiner; Aaron Henry

  Peter Jay Fernandez

  Bob Moses; David Dennis

  Eric Lenox Abrams

  Rep. Emanuel Celler;

  White House Aide/Butler

  Steve Vinovich

  Sen. Strom Thurmond;

  White House Aide/Butler

  Christopher Gurr

  Sen. Karl Mundt;

  White House Aide/Butler

  Bill Timoney

  CHARACTERS

  PRESIDENT LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ)

  Master politician. “Brave and brutal, compassionate and cruel, intelligent and insensitive, with an uncanny instinct for the jugular of his allies and adversaries.” Possessing a marvelous, often crude sense of humor. Privately a font of extraordinary insecurity and vulnerability.

  LADY BIRD JOHNSON

  First Lady. An ideal political wife. Committed above all to her husband’s political schedule and emotional needs. Tougher than she looks.

  WALTER JENKINS

  LBJ’s loyal, long-suffering, and indispensable Chief of Staff. He has been with LBJ from the beginning; a kind of surrogate son.

  SENATOR HUBERT HUMPHREY (D-MN)

  Liberal leader in the Senate and a long-time champion of civil rights. Harbors White House aspirations.

  MURIEL HUMPRHEY

  Humphrey’s wife and political confident.

  KATHERINE GRAHAM

  High-powered publisher of Washington Post. Alleged to have had an affair with LBJ.

  ROBERT MCNAMARA

  Secretary of Defense. Known for his rigorous intelligence, brilliant managerial skills, and acerbic manner. A chief architect of American policy in Vietnam

  WALTER REUTHER

  The tough, brilliant leader of The United Auto Workers (UAW) and an ardent ally of the Civil Rights Movement.

  J. EDGAR HOOVER

  FBI Director, whose paranoia and desire for power leads him to sanction massive corruption and illegal surveillance.

  DEKE DELOACH

  FBI. Hoover’s right hand man.

  CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS

  DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (MLK)

  Founder and Head of the Southern Christian Leadership Committee (SCLC). Civil rights leader trying hard to keep the Movement together through impossible tradeoffs. Charismatic, insightful, and resilient.

  CORETTA SCOTT KING

  Married to MLK. Committed to him and to the Cause but troubled by the dangers he faces and the infidelities she suspects.

  RALPH ABERNATHY

  Reverend, civil rights leader, and best friend to MLK. Funny, compassionate, and devoted.

  STANLEY LEVISON

  White Jewish businessman and former Communist from New York. Chief advisor to MLK. A plain-spoken realist.

  ROY WILKINS

  Head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Dapper, urbane, superior, he favors a conservative approach to civil rights advancement.

  BOB MOSES

  Brilliant civil rights strategist. Co-founder of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Known for his calming spiritual presence and total devotion to the Movement. Architect of Freedom Summer.

  STOKELY CARMICHAEL

  Brilliant, charismatic young civil rights field organizer. Bold and unimpressed by authority; a strong advocate for an increasingly more militant approach.

  DAVID DENNIS

  Young, passionate civil rights field organizer working in Freedom Summer.

  FANNIE LOU HAMER

  A former sharecropper turned civil rights leader. Co-leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Uneducated, irrepressible, and inspiring.

  JAMES HARRISON

  Accountant for SCLC.

  ANDREW GOODMAN

  White college Freedom Summer volunteer, murdered in Mississippi.

  MICHAEL SCHWERNER

  White college Freedom Summer volunteer, murdered in Mississippi.

  JAMES CHANEY

  Local SNCC activist in Freedom Summer, murdered in Mississippi.

  AARON HENRY

  Co-leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

  THE DIXIECRATS

  SENATOR RICHARD RUSSELL (D-GA)

  The courtly but canny leader of the Dixiecrats, unalterably opposed to Integration. LBJ’s political mentor.

  REP ‘’JUDGE’’ SMITH (D-VA)

  A staunch segregationist and Chairman of the House Rules Committee.

  SENATOR STROM THURMOND (D-SC)

  Key member of the Southern Caucus. Known for his vitriolic racist language and extreme views on segregation.

  SENATOR EASTLAND (D–MISS)

  A plantation owner and virulent racist. Head of the Senate Judiciary Committee and leader of the “official” Mississippi delegation to the Democratic Convention.

  GOVERNOR GEORGE WALLACE (D-ALA)

  Racist Alabama governor. An outspoken, brash, and colorful political opportunist, and thorn in LBJ’s side.

  SEYMORE TRAMMEL

  Officially a Wallace campaign aide but in reality his “bagman. “

  LURLEEN WALLACE

  Former Alabama Beauty Queen and devoted First Lady. Adores Wallace.

  SENATOR BYRD (D-WVA)

  Opposed to Integration.

  REP. WILLIAM COLMER (D-MISS)

  Opposed to Integration.

  GOVERNOR JOHNSON (D-MS)

  Oppo
sed to Integration. Outspoken opponent of Mississippi Freedom Summer.

  GOVERNOR SANDERS (D-GA)

  Leader of the Georgia delegation to the Democratic Convention.

  REPUBLICANS

  SENATOR EVERETT DIRKSEN (R-ILL)

  Senate Minority Leader from Illinois. An old colleague of LBJ’s and a noted orator.

  REP. BILL MCCULLOCH (R-OHIO)

  Conservative Republican supporter of civil rights.

  REP. KATHARINE ST. GEORGE (R-NY)

  Liberal Republican supporter of civil rights.

  DEMOCRATS

  REPRESENTATIVE JOHN MCCORMACK (D-MA)

  Speaker of the House. Liberal.

  REP. EMANUEL CELLER (D-NY)

  Liberal. Long-time supporter of civil rights.

  REP. JAMES CORMAN (D-CA)

  Liberal supporter of civil rights.

  SENATOR MIKE MANSFIELD (D-MT)

  Senate Majority Leader. Liberal.

  OTHERS

  WITNESSES, WHITE HOUSE SECRETARY, TAILOR, SHOE-SHINE BOY, BARBER, REPORTERS, WALLACE SUPPORTERS, BLACK WHITE HOUSE BUTLER, WOMAN, DEPUTY PRICE, FBI AGENTS, CROWD, MFDP LEADER, MFDP ACTIVISTS, NETWORK CORRESPONDENT, WHITE DEMOCRATIC DELEGATES, VICE SQUAD OFFICERS, NURSE, TELEVISION ANNOUNCER, KING OF NORWAY, NEW ORLEANS ANNOUNCER, LBJ SUPPORTERS.

  SETTING

  Washington, DC; Atlantic City; Atlanta; Mississippi.

  TIME

 

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