Asolo Rep Presents Pulitzer Prize-Winner Robert Schenkkan's THE GREAT SOCIETY

Asolo Rep kicks off its winter repertory season with THE GREAT SOCIETY, Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Schenkkan's gripping political drama that chronicles the second chapter of Lyndon Baines Johnson's presidency. Asolo Rep is proud to be the only theatre in the country granted the rights to produce THE GREAT SOCIETY during the 2016-17 season. The sequel to last season's box office record-breaking production of All the Way will be directed by Nicole A. Watson. THE GREAT SOCIETY previews January 11 and 12, opens January 13 and runs in rotating repertory through April 2 in the Mertz Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.

THE GREAT SOCIETY picks up right where the curtain closed on All the Way, delving into President Lyndon Baines Johnson's polarizing administration, including his steadfast War on Poverty, the tumultuous Vietnam War, and the uphill battle for Civil Rights. From Reverend DR. Martin Luther King, Jr., to Senator Robert F. Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover, Governor George Wallace, and more, THE GREAT SOCIETY, unearths the engrossing opponents and chess match of the political arena of the late 1960s.

"When we initially announced THE GREAT SOCIETY for the final season of our American Character Project, we knew that it would open just as a new President of the United States took office," said Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards. "What we could have never anticipated was the shockingly divided state that our country would be in. Robert Schenkkan's THE GREAT SOCIETY could not be a more remarkably poignant, timely and vital story to tell right now, and I'm thrilled to present it to our community."

The production stars acclaimed actor Matt DeCaro as LBJ. Mr. DeCaro replaces the previously announced Jack Willis in the role. Throughout Mr. DeCaro's 40-year acting career, he has performed in theaters all over the country, including Manhattan Theatre Club, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, The Old Globe, and Steppenwolf Theatre. Actor A.K. Murtadha will once again portray Reverend DR. Martin Luther King, Jr., after taking on the role in All the Way at Asolo Rep last season. Denise Cormier will also reprise her role as Lady Bird Johnson. Longtime Asolo Rep company actor David Breitbarth will reprise his role as Governor George Wallace, and will also play Sheriff Jim Clark, Richard Nixon, and John McCone. William Dick also returns as controversial FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Director Nicole A. Watson, who served as the associate director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Seattle Repertory Theatre productions of THE GREAT SOCIETY, has also helmed Kevin R. Free's Night of The Living N-Word, Johnna Adams' World Builders (CATF), and the opera Approaching Ali (Washington National Opera). She has also directed productions of Our Lady of Kibeho (Smith College), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (North Carolina School of the Arts), and The Mountaintop (Kitchen Theater).

"To me, it seems like all the things LBJ was fighting for are the things that we are still fighting for. You listen to his opening State of the Union Address - voting rights, health care, poverty, education - we're still working on those things," said Director Nicole A. Watson. "THE GREAT SOCIETY is a play that tries to look at a time period where everyone was trying to be heard. It would be hard to see this play and not see connections to today. I guess history does indeed repeat itself."

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