WELCOME TO THE BLANK’S 26th SEASON! A Note from the Author Thank you for being here. It means the world to me. I started studying the JFK assassination when I was a teenager. It fascinated me that in one moment our whole world changed forever, and I wanted to know why. I started doing theatre when I was 4 and I have always felt that the purpose of theatre was to help better understand our world. One day I was reading Shakespeare, and then I saw it: the connections to people and situations that directly paralleled those of the JFK story. I noticed some things that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up because it seemed that Shakespeare was not just smart, but in this case almost prescient: he saw the future 350 years before it happened. And I could see that he could see it. I then went down the rabbit hole of highlighting the connections and crafting the JFK story from what he wrote, bringing in other historical pieces to ll in where he left gaps. It took a while. Like more than 20 years! One of the reasons it took so long was that I needed some information that did not yet exist. I wanted to be as historically accurate as I could be and thanks to Robert Caro’s amazing work on LBJ in 2012, I got conrmation of what I had gleaned already. The other reason it took so long was fear: This idea was too crazy! Could it possibly work? Whenever people nd out I am an “expert” on the assassination they always ask the same question, “Who do you think did it?” Well, The Tragedy of JFK (as told by Wm. Shakespeare) is my answer, written for the medium in which I speak best: Theatre. I suggest you take the play at face value; some of it is metaphor, some of it is not. This is the story of what might have happened based on what I know. We may never be told the truth. But I hope this play at least makes you think and talk about the possibilities. And about how to make sure it never happens again. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Yours, Daniel Henning Founding Artistic Director The Blank Theatre Hollywood’s Resident Theatre Since 1990 TheBlank.com THE BLANK THEATRE DANIEL HENNING FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR NOAH WYLE ARTISTIC PRODUCER PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE TRAGEDY OF JFK (as told by Wm. Shakespeare) CONCEIVED, ADAPTED & DIRECTED BY DANIEL HENNING WITH TONY ABATEMARCO* FORD AUSTIN* CHAD BRANNON BRIAN BRENNAN ROSLYN COHN* BRETT COLLIER CRIS D’ANNUNZIO* JERRY DELLA SALLA SUSAN DENAKER* JOHN KNIGHT JONATHON LAMER* KELIE MCIVER* CASEY MCKINNON* BRUCE NEHLSEN JACOB SIDNEY JONNY WALKER TIME WINTERS* PRODUCERS DANIEL HENNING BREE PAVEY NOAH WYLE ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS CYNTHIA AQUINO AMANDA FAUCHER SHAH GRANVILLE SET DESIGN LIGHTING DESIGN COSTUME DESIGN HAIR, WIGS & MAKEUP DESIGN SYDNEY RUSSELL BRANDON BARUCH NAILA ALADDIN SANDERS JUDI LUWIN SOUND DESIGN COSTUMES ASSSTANT ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BOX OFFICE MANAGER WARREN DAVIS NATALYA SHAHINYAN MIKEY HAWLEY GABBY BRUNO PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER REHEARSAL STAGE MANAGER ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER CHRIS HOFFMAN BRITTNI FINLEY JOHN KNIGHT ROSLYN COHN CASTING PUBLIC RELATIONS MARKETING DIRECTOR ERICA S. BREAM AND CARA CHUTE ROSENBAUM KEN WERTHER KATHARINE HUNTERBLYDEN PUBLICITY A Visiting Production at Skylight Theatre *Member of Actors’ Equity Association, The Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in The United States THE BLOOMBERG FOUNDATION This season at The Blank THE PLUM FOUNDATION made possible in part by: DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS THE ROSENTHAL FAMILY FOUNDATION CITY OF LOS ANGELES The Cast JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY Ford Austin* ROBERT FRANCIS KENNEDY Chad Brannon LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON Time Winters* J. EDGAR HOOVER Tony Abatemarco* CLYDE TOLSON/ CLINT MURCHISON Cris D’Annunzio* JACQUELINE BOUVIER KENNEDY Casey McKinnon* LADY BIRD JOHNSON Susan Denaker* EVELYN LINCOLN Kelie McIver* ALLEN DULLES Bruce Nehlsen MCGEORGE BUNDY Jacob Sidney CARLOS MARCELLO/ JACK VALENTI Jerry Della Salla GEN. EDWIN WALKER Jonny Walker GOV. JOHN CONNALLY Jonathon Lamer* REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Brett Collier LEE HARVEY OSWALD Brian Brennan AIDE/POLLSTER Roslyn Cohn* AIDE/POLLSTER John Knight Alternate Cast (Only appear with notice) JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY Dane Bowman ROBERT FRANCIS KENNEDY Greg Winter LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON Jonathon Lamer* J. EDGAR HOOVER Cris D’Annunzio* CLINT MURCHISON/ CLYDE TOLSON/ Don Lucas* GEN. EDWIN WALKER JACQUELINE BOUVIER KENNEDY Stasha Surdyke* LADY BIRD JOHNSON/EVELYN LINCOLN Roslyn Cohn* ALLEN DULLES/MCGEORGE BUNDY/ GOV. JOHN CONNALLY James Babbin* CARLOS MARCELLO/JACK VALENTI Vince DonVito* REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Stephen Anglin Jr. *Member of Actors’Equity Association, The Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in The United States Time: November 1963 through June 1968 Place: Washington DC, Dallas TX, and Selma AL There will be no intermission. Please turn o your cell phone prior to the performance. Please note that photographing, videotaping or audio recording the performance is strictly forbidden. Sorry, food and drinks are NOT allowed in the theatre. Thanks! WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST (In Alphabetical Order) TONY ABATEMARCO (J. Edgar Hoover) Co-Artistic Director - Skylight Theatre Company. Awards: Ovation (Lead Performance – IRMA VEP), LA Weekly (multiple), two NEA Directing Fellowships. 3x LA Drama Critics’ Nominee (Lead), most recently for: “Rothko” in RED at ICT, Long Beach. He also appeared in Long Beach Opera’s The Soldier’s Tale by Stravinsky, 2014, and at ICT in this year’s A WALK IN THE WOODS and TRYING. Member: Antaeus. Regional credits: CTG, South Coast Rep, Pittsburgh Public, Williamstown, Arena, Folger. NY: Rattlestick, Public Theatre, Cherry Lane. Director: on Broadway (Julie Harris, LUCIFER’S CHILD) & in London’s West End (CATWALK CONFIDENTIAL). On camera: 66 appearances including How To Get Away With Murder (recurring), Beverly Hills Ninja 2, Town & Country, Sleeping with the Enemy, HBO’s Sacrice, The L Word, E.R., Frasier, etc. 7 Nat’l commercials. Teacher: USC & SMC Emeritus College. Playwright: LA Weekly & DramaLogue awards. His Beautied premiered at Skylight, 2012. Forever House premiered here 2016. FORD AUSTIN (John F. Kennedy) is a New York stage actor. O- Broadway: A Recluse & His Guest by Tennessee Williams (World Premiere), Naturals In It, The Nektonic Facteur. Regionally: Death of a Salesman (Papermill Playhouse), Lawyers (Westport Country Playhouse), Treasure Island (Pirate Playhouse), Worldly Acts (Tiany Theater), The Tempest, The Grapes of Wrath (Philadelphia premiere), The Lower Depths, Macbeth, The Servant of Two Masters, The Elephant Man, The Learned Ladies, and more. He produced & directed roughly 100 movies and has appeared on camera as an actor since he was 1 year old in a feature lm produced by his parents. He is a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio where he is trains with his mentor Martin Landau. This bicoastal actor loves his wife madly. Visit: EmployedActor.com to learn about his deadly car accident in 2011 where doctors gave him a 1% chance of survival. CHAD BRANNON (Robert F. Kennedy) is an Emmy Award winning actor best known for his role as Zander on General Hospital, Lucas Mize on Friday Night Lights, and Ryan Archer on CSI. Other Film/TV credits include Soa Coppola’s The Bling Ring, Cold Case, Deadwood, JAG, and Malcolm in the Middle. Chad loves the theatre and is very excited to be on the stage again. He just nished a run in Venice, CA as the lead, Travis, in Blood from a Stone. Past credits include Hamlet in Hamlet, Torch in Beirut, Messenger in 1776, Christian in Cyrano De Bergerac, Laertes in Hamlet, and Malcolm in Macbeth. Chad just recently wrapped Slamma Jamma to appear in theaters this fall, and can be heard every day as the main voice of the History Channel and as one of the signature promo voices on Fox for Bones and American Grit, on CBS for MacGyver, NCIS: New Orleans and NCIS, Pure Genius and on SEC ESPN Network for College Basketball. BRIAN BRENNAN Lee Harvey Oswald is excited for his debut with The Blank Theatre. He was just a lead understudy for The Celebration Theater’s production of ‘Dream Boy’ and before that, Long Beach Playhouse’s production of Shakespeare’s R&J where he played Juliet. Brian is a recent graduate from California State University of Fullerton and hopes to use his training to the fullest by continually auditioning and performing in Los Angeles. BRETT COLLIER (Martin Luther King Jr.) is delighted to be making his debut with The Blank Theatre. THEATER: “Sweet bird of Youth” (FLY) Strasberg Institute, LA; “Sick” (Condom Man) American Theater of Actors, NYC; “O Come O Ye Faithful” (Hasan) Bank Street Theater, NYC TELEVISION/FILM: Son’s of Anarchy, Medium, Young Americans, 28 Hotel Rooms. Special thanks to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, his amazing wife Sonia and their fabulous son, Lincoln; Daniel for casting him in this amazing show; Susie for the opportunity (and Roy for being cool); along with the cast, the crew, and The Blank! MFA - Actor’s Studio Drama School at The New School. COOL FACT: When he’s not acting, he and his wife run their own wedding and event business called Cinch. ROSLYN COHN (Aide/Pollster/Lady Bird Johnson U/S Evelyn Lincoln U/S) is thrilled to be a part of this important play! Thank you Daniel!! 2014 Broadway World Nominee as Best Female Cabaret Artist (came in 2nd behind Chita Rivera) about my 23 years in the Cult of Scientology entitled “DiCult to Leave”. It can be seen in it’s entirety on Youtube. Broadway: Tony Nominated “St. Joan” with Tony Randall’s National Actors Theatre and “Three Men on a Horse”.