Beyond Glory at James R. Armstrong Theatre

Stephen Lang, award-winning playwright and star of stage and screen, brings the stories of eight Medal of Honor recipients to the Queensbury Theatre in his one-man hit show, Beyond Glory, adapted from Larry Smith’s stirring book, Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words (2003).

This one-time Hamlet and Swarthmore College graduate has become the quintessence of the American soldier. Lang has over 100 stage and screen credits; many of them representing strong military characters: James Cameron’s Avatar, Gettysburg, Terra Nova, Tombstone, Gods and Generals, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Defiance.

During his reading of basketball buddy Larry Smith’s book, Lang decided he needed to bring the stories of these men to the stage; and he has. Beyond Glory has been performed thousands of times to audiences from Broadway to barracks all over the world, honoring the histories of eight heroes from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam through Lang’s 80-minute characterization of these men, supported by a backdrop of video images. A high point for Lang was a command performance on the floor of Congress to honor Medal of Honor recipient, Senator Daniel Inouye, one of the eight featured in Beyond Glory.

Authors

• Larry Smith