THE HANGOVER REPORT – Robert Schenkkan’s underwhelming THE GREAT SOCIETY opens on the Great White Way, continuing the LBJ saga

Marchant Davis, Brian Cox, and Bryce Pynkham in Robert Schenkkan's "The Great Society" at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Photo by Evan Zimmerman,

Marchant Davis, Brian Cox, and Bryce Pynkham in Robert Schenkkan’s “The Great Society” at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Photo by Evan Zimmerman,

Last night, Robert Schenkkan’s The Great Society opened on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. The play is the sequel to Mr. Schenkkan’s Tony-winning play All the Way from a few seasons ago, which starred a stupendous Bryan Cranston (who also won a well-deserved Tony Award for his turn) as President Johnson from JFK’s assassination to his victorious campaign for a second Presidential term. The Great Society finds LBJ struggling with the disastrous Vietnam War abroad and to move his civil rights agenda forward domestically.

As history has documented, it all doesn’t quite end happily ever after for LBJ. Unfortunately, the same can be said of Mr. Schenkkan’s play, which hardly seems ready for primetime Broadway consumption. The play struggles to find depth and forward momentum as it episodically endeavors to hit all the requisite points of LBJ’s second term. Not only is All the Way much better crafted and more dramatically compelling (in its objective events and theatrical plotting) than The Great Society, it also lacks the magnetic core that was Mr. Cranston’s majestic performance to hold it all together (which he did magnificently).

The large cast – which includes some heavy-hitting stage actors (e.g., Marc Kudisch, Richard Thomas, Bryce Pinkham) – does its darnedest to find a pulse and much-needed humanity in Mr. Schenkkan’s otherwise meandering, underwhelming play. As the second term LBJ, Brian Cox gives it the old college try, although he ultimately fails to dig deeper than project the President’s (in)famously blustering mannerisms, which he admittedly does quite effectively. Bill Rauch’s uninspired, by-the-books direction doesn’t help matters much either, although he does utilize the Beaumont’s sometimes problematic thrust stage admirably. Folks, you’re better off sticking with the history books this time around.

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THE GREAT SOCIETY
Broadway, Play
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
2 hours, 40 minutes (with one intermission)
Through November 24

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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