'All the Way': Theater review
6 / 10
Hot off a prize-winning streak on 'Breaking Bad,' Bryan Cranston drives this star vehicle covering LBJ's turbulent first year in the top job with an uncanny authority and confidence rare in first time Broadway performers. The actor is at the height of his power playing a commander-in-chief striving to harness his own. Cranston, who turns 58 Friday, is fiery, ferocious, scary and, quite often very funny as the President who struggles in 1964 to validate his 'accidental' rise while also ensuring re-election. Getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is key to achieving both - but the clock is ticking and the ranks of opponents are growing...It's also longwinded as it checks off 1964 talking points - MLK's infidelity, FBI spying, three young men killed in Mississippi, Democratic National Convention gamesmanship and more. But when it's at its best, 'All the Way' shows the wide division between parties and players in D.C. then - and now.
