Brandon Potter to Star in DTC's Texas-Sized Production of ALL THE WAY This Spring

Dallas Theater Center announced today complete details for the Texas-sized production of the Tony Award-winning play, ALL THE WAY. A co-production with the Alley Theatre and directed by DTC Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty, the Houston Chronicle calls ALL THE WAY "a fascinating portrait of one of the most colorful and complex figures in U.S. history." ALL THE WAY features company members from both DTC and the Alley Theatre.

After opening in Houston, ALL THE WAY will come to DTC beginning with previews on Thursday, March 3; a Pay-What-You-Can performance on Sunday, March 6; and will run through Sunday, March 27. Press Opening will be Saturday, March 5 at 8 p.m. ALL THE WAY runs at the Alley's Hubbard Theatre through Feb. 21. Tickets to ALL THE WAY are on sale now at www.DallasTheaterCenter.org and by phone at (214) 880-0202.

"The Alley Theatre is one of the great, historic theaters in the state of Texas, whose work I have long admired. Their commitment to a resident acting company is unique in the American theatre and served as an inspiration to me when we created our own acting company at Dallas Theater Center in 2008," said Moriarty. "ALL THE WAY is the perfect opportunity to bring these two great Texas theaters together to collaborate on an award-winning historical epic about Lyndon Johnson, Texas' leading political figure of the 20th century. This play not only allows our companies to inspire each other, but also allows us to tell a thrilling, high impact story that, though it is history, feels as fresh and relevant as if it were ripped off the headlines today."

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Texas native Robert Schenkkan, ALL THE WAY is a suspenseful new play about one of the most powerful Texans, Lyndon B. Johnson, from the moment of his accidental presidency in 1963 to his hard-won landslide election a year later. Performed in both Houston and Dallas, Robert Schenkkan's masterful script paints a gripping portrayal of LBJ, civil rights hero, ruthless bully, and perhaps one of our greatest legislative presidents. With a title harkening back to the slogan for his 1964 campaign, ALL THE WAY is a searing and enthralling dramatization that explores political gridlock, strong-arm manipulation, and the morality of politics and power.

Brierley Resident Acting Company member Brandon Potter will play the role of President Lyndon Baines Johnson alongside company members Kieran "Michael" Connolly (The School for Wives, Medea, Red) as J. Edgar Hoover/Reporter/Senator Robert Byrd; Hassan El-Amin (The Mountaintop, Colossal, Stagger Lee) as Roy Wilkins/James Harrison/Shoeshiner/Mourner/MFDP Activist/Aaron Henry/MFDP delegate; Chamblee Ferguson (The School for Wives, Medea, The Rocky Horror Show) as Senator Hubert Humphrey/Senator Strom Thurmond/FBI Agent; Alex Organ (Sense and Sensibility, LES MISERABLES, The Fortress of Solitude) as Stanley Levison/Representative John McCormack/Reporter/Network Correspondent/Seymore Trammell/Rev. Edwin King/MFDP organizer/Witness/Andrew Goodman; and Steven Michael Walters (The Book Club Play, LES MISERABLES, Clybourne Park) as Walter Jenkins/Representative William Colmer.

Alley Resident Acting Company members in the cast are Paul Hope as Cartha "Deke" DeLoach/Representative Howard "Judge" Smith/Senator Everett Dirksen/Gov. Carl Sanders/Vice Squad/Deputy Price; David Rainey as Rev. Ralph Abernathy/Butler/Mourner/MFDP Activist/Witness; and John Tyson as Senator Richard Russell/Representative Emanuel Celler/FBI Agent/Vice Squad.

Southern Methodist University students in the cast are Timothy Paul Brown (A Christmas Carol) as Bob Moses/Mourner/MFDP Activist, and Sasha Davis (A Christmas Carol) as Coretta Scott King/Mourner/MFDP Activist/Fannie Lou Hammer/Beautiful Woman. Additional cast members are Adam A. Anderson as Stokely Carmichael/David Dennis/MFDP Leader/Witness/James Cheny; Michael Brusasco as Representative James Corman/Governor George Wallace/Senator Mike Mansfield/Walter Reuther/FBI Agent/Witness/King of Norway; Shawn Hamilton as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Chris Hutchison as Robert McNamara/Senator James Eastland/William Moore McCulloch/Governor Paul B. Johnson, Jr./Witness/New Orleans Announcer/Butler; Leah Spillman as Lady Bird Johnson/Katharine Graham/Representative Katharine St. George; and Brooke Wilson as Secretary/Lurleen Wallace/Muriel Humphrey/Delegate/Nurse.

This production will give the audience an inside look into historical moments both in and out of the Oval Office during LBJ's presidency. Returning to DTC is Tony Award-winning set designer and projection designer Beowulf Boritt (A Christmas Carol, Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream) who will bring the political world to life. Also returning to DTC is costume designer Jennifer Caprio (A Christmas Carol, Colossal, The School for Wives), sound designer Broken Chord (A Christmas Carol, The Odd Couple; Henry IV), and lighting designer Clifton Taylor (Sherlock Holmes, Tempest). Joining them is projection designer Caite Kemp.

DTC's Come Early sponsored by Wells Fargo will take place one hour before every performance and will be led by El-Amin. DTC's Stay Late presented by Dr Pepper Snapple will take place after each performance and will be led by Walters.

DTC is partnering with The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, located at 411 Elm St. for the production of ALL THE WAY. DTC and The Sixth Floor Museum will co-host a community conversation with a moderated panel titled "JFK-LBJ: Transition of Power," on March 21 from 6 - 7:30 p.m.

In addition, students participating in Project Discovery will have their pre-show experience at The Sixth Floor Museum before attending the show. Project Discovery makes theater more accessible to students, regardless of their ability to pay, and increases engagement of students in experiences that explore issues using theater as a catalyst. Roughly half of Project Discovery participants will see a professional theater production for the first time while in the program and more than 90% of participants indicate an increased level of confidence in attending theater and sharing opinions about their experience.

One of the leading regional theaters in the country, 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. Under the leadership of 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 community outreach efforts including leading the DFW Foote Festival and recent collaborations with the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Public Library, Dallas Holocaust Museum, North Texas Food Bank, Dallas Opera, and Dallas Black Dance Theater. 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 FLY by Rajiv Joseph, Bill Sherman and Kirstin Childs; Fly by Night by Kim Rosenstock, Michael Mitnick and Will Connolly; Giant by Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson; The Trinity River Plays by Regina Taylor; the revised It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams; Give It Up! (now titled Lysistrata Jones and recently on Broadway) by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn; Sarah, Plain and Tall by Julia Jordan, Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin; and The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson.

 

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