Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

All the Way with LBJ

9/19/2013

2 Comments

 
For fans of Breaking Bad -- or of politics -- or interesting theater, Bryan Cranston is starring in a new play as Lyndon Johnson, All the Way.  It premieres tonight in Boston, and not shockingly the entire limited run is sold out.  On the chance that it gets good reviews, it seems likely that the show will transfer to Boston.

The play is by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Schenkkan, who wrote The Kentucky Cycle"  It covers the difficult years of transition after Johnson became president following the Kennedy assasination until his re-election, Here's an article by Sarah Rodman from the Boston Globe.

"For a character with such dimension, director Rauch and playwright Schenkkan wanted a very specific kind of actor, and both are big 'Breaking Bad' fans.

“'We thought: Who has not just the charisma to pull off LBJ, but the courage and the skill and the heart and the cojones?' says Rauch. “Bryan was obviously a really thrilling choice, and Robert and I were able to meet with him in his home. And to our unbelievable joy, he said yes!'”

"Cranston says he couldn’t turn it down, and after his wife read the script, she agreed. 'You have to,' she told him."

There is one particularly humorous nod to the future of Breaking Bad in the article (which was posted on August 31), for those looking for clues.  The reporter notes how problems are starting to get pretty bad for Cranston's character, Walter White.  "Cranston laughs and intones mock-ominously, 'It gets worse before it gets worser.'”

Opposite Cranston in the picture below is Michael McKean who plays J. Edgar Hoover.

Picture
2 Comments
Douglass Abramson
9/19/2013 04:30:36 pm

I never would have guessed that McKean was playing J Edgar. He looks more like Kissinger in that picture. McKean is an underrated actor, and I don't think that he has ever given a bad performance, even in some less than stellar projects; but I'm not sure that I'd want to see him play Hoover in a serious piece, even as a secondary character as he is in this play. Him playing Hoover in a Guest comedy, wearing a dress and high heels however sounds like a winner,

Reply
Robert Elisberg
9/20/2013 02:25:04 am

Oddly enough, I have a feeling that I don't disagree with with any of your points. Given that Bryan Cranston being known as a TV dad would not have been most people's first choice for Walter White, I'm willing to give McKean a pass here to wait and see -- but he has a longer body of work than Cranston, so we have more a chance to be surprised by the casting. But hopefully he'll surprise in a good way. (And you're right, it's bad hair and make-up for Hoover.)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Busienss
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like