Review: In ‘The Great Society,’ Another Presidential Nightmare

I was a college freshman when Johnson made his stunning announcement that he would not run again. In fact, I can remember exactly where I was and who I was with while watching his speech on television. Now as a senior citizen whose middle-class consciousness was blessedly raised by the movements back then against intolerable racial injustice and the senseless and horrific waste of human life in Vietnam, The Great Society does a spot on, terrific job of portraying LBJ's presidency and those incredibly tumultuous and extremely important times. Brian Cox's performance is a stunning tour de force and the supporting cast members are incredibly wonderful. I myself was riveted by the entire play as it deeply resonated within me and brought back so many thoughts and memories of those dark and incredible years. If you are a senior too I think you will greatly appreciate and enjoy this highly informative and impressive play.

LBJ political talents and mastery of the Senate created Medicare, Medicaid, the Civil Rights act and Voting Rights act. Both All the Way and The Great Society showed this well. But The Great Society additionally revealed LBJ's utter helplessness when it came to Viet Nam. All of his talents to persuade and bludgeon to gain passage of his signature legislation were for naught as this quagmire swallowed him-and our country-whole. This was the central tragedy of The Great Society. Odd that Mr. Green failed to note it.

Saw the production this evening. True - 2 hours 40 minutes is a short time to explore new insights about a complex story so many in the audience actually lived through and likely one way or another affected the life of many in the room. It would have been interesting to learn the reaction of some the audience and how their lives were affected by the events of those times. A modified production allowing a chance for audience comment at the end might have been interesting. I was intrigued by the reviewer’s comment about lack of speculative psychology in the play and anyway, it belongs in a book While I thought some of that found its way into the script, I must say, in contrast, I found the Doris Kearns Goodwin book about LBJ unreadable exactly because that well-regarded book drowned itself in speculative psychology past the point of no return - had to give it up.

Just saw the play today. Have to say I was quite disappointed. Brian Cox was all wrong for this role. His accent was completely off, and while he can't control his height, the producers could have controlled who got the part. Johnson's height was integral to his powers of persuasion and intimidation. The portrayal of Johnson as having had to look UP to Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, or anyone else for that matter, was absurd. I might say as well that I thought Grantham Coleman's portrayal of Dr. King was lacking as well. There was nowhere near enough projection of the public power and personal magnetism of Dr. King. But, it was a valuable afternoon anyway, because it gave me the opportunity to reflect on that very difficult time for our country. You'd think we would have learned something from it....

This was good, but not great. As others have commented, Cox pales in comparison to Cranston, and yes, he's still flubbing lines as of October 14. But the other performances were more compelling, and the play overall does an admirable job of juggling all of the Vietnam / Civil Rights developments and packaging them into a fast-paced narrative.

Saw play yesterday...every high school history/civics student can see this and learn about our country. I enjoyed it..the time flew by....acting was great..sorry Times destroyed it..to me it was terrific!

Contrary to Green's review, my guest and I both enjoyed The Great Society. From the script to the acting to the minimalist set design, we found the play interesting, informative, and engaging. Patrons seated around us felt the same way and one even commented to me that she couldn't understand why Green panned the production. The almost 3 hours went by too quickly. Definitely worth seeing in my opinion.

I saw the play in mid-previews and despite decent acting (although Cox had some missteps), all other aspects of the storytelling were just not that compelling and I left at intermission. Disappointing given the subject material and relevance today, as well as how enjoyable All the Way had been.

This was one of the more aggressively bad plays I've seen in a while. Mr. Schenkkan's "All the Way" suffered from some of the same cartoonish scenes and attempts to pack too much in, but it was saved by Bryan Cranston's engaging performance. No such luck here. I've seen most all of these actors in other roles and enjoyed their work much. I wasn't expecting imitations, but the LEAST the actors could do is capture the character of the famous people they were supposed to portray. Lyndon Johnson wasn't all bluster and yelling as Brian Cox portrays him--he could be moving at times and did indeed move the country on Civil Rights and healthcare. Richard Thomas, an otherwise fine actor, is nothing like Hubert Humphrey who I witnessed in action--a happy warrior if there ever was one. Dr. King had a commanding moral presence, but we don't see much of that here. Yes, Mr. Schenkkan won the Tony for "All the Way," but maybe there really are no second acts in America.

I think Mr. Green writes too many unjustified “slay-the-play” criticisms. This is one. The play is engaging, if a bit long. Compressing so many events, all of which I lived through, made the weight of the era almost unbearably heavy. What a troubled country before, during, and after the Johnson years!

I saw this play in its 2nd preview performance and thought it well captured the complexities of both politics and the leaders from 1965-1968. Unchanged today are the goals of the Great Society and the horrors of war.

I saw the original productions of both plays, the first where it originated at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the second where it traveled to in Seattle at The Rep. They were both superb. Both plays were extremely popular in Ashland, Oregon and in Seattle. Jack Fry was fabulous as LBJ. I really don't know what the reviewer is talking about. Maybe the west coast edition of the second play was simply superior. Or maybe the reviewer was in a poor state of mind when he saw this production. Or maybe both.

I saw this when it opened. Respectfully, I disagree. The play isn’t about President Johnson but about America itself and how American history (and all history) is really the same story of how people react to the loss of or accumulation of power. This contemplation on the universal catch 22 that exists in all us-how far is too far to push the line if it means we are doing the right thing-is why The Great Society isn’t a play about President Johnson but a play about human nature.

I saw the play last week, and marveled at all the issues this beleaguered president had to deal with. Today, we have so much to be grateful for in LBJ’s persistence and politicking. Even though I remember many of these events from my youth, it is important to be reminded of our own history. The play, the actors and setting were all terrific. Whether you remember this era or not, go see this play

"As the war starts to eat up his budget, he can no longer protect the Great Society programs that were meant to be his legacy... Why was he able to achieve what he did against all odds? Why did he suddenly lose that ability at the peak of success?" Jesse Green poses these questions in the midpoint of his review. These answers will not be revealed in the deeper psychological study the critic recommends as an approach to the play. Rather, history itself, and the "accumulation of facts" that the reviewer says characterize the play, answer these questions. Medicare, the Civil Rights Act and the other legislation that comprises the Great Society were part of forward looking, compassionate government on the right side of human progress. The Vietnam War, which ate away at Johnson's legacy, extracted a death toll in Vietnam and among our own troops which was not only a personal tragedy but a tragic signpost which unfortunately went unheeded in our 21st century foreign military adventures. Johnson was not able to achieve success in the pursuit of a war that was ultimately unwanted and rejected by the majority of the American people.

I thoroughly enjoyed this play. I’m sorry that they got a so so review. Maybe my attention span is able to stick to a narrative. Some of you should switch off your cell phones and actually experience a live performance. Your attention spans are dwindling and it shows in this review and the negative comments.

A very loquacious, boring, history lesson, that never comes close to the first exciting presentation of LBJ's life in "All The Way"...And Brian Cranston out shone Cox in portraying the very controversial personality of Mr. Johnson....It was hard to believe that these two plays were written by the same man!..A major disappointment ...

I’m sorry that Mr Green and Avid TheaterGoer panned this production. I found it compelling. Full disclosure: I did not see Bryan Cranston in ‘All the Way.’ But this one kept my interest. Everyone who is a democrat, go see it.

iI feels like the more fo-profit shows using non-profit spaces becomes the norm rather than the exception, (like “Beautiful” at the non-profit Roundabout-owned theater was said to be) for booking shows like this one at the non-profit Beaumont; or - whatever the high quality - the for-profit The Sound Inside at the non-profit Roundabout’s Studio 54; or the for-profit Bat Out of Hell at the non-profit City Center, the more it gives talking points helping to justify the scary Mnuchin-Trump point about curtailing  deductions for donations to the performing arts every day.  We’ll be fine if the tax law changes back in 2021, but it may not. They book for-profit shows where the whole downstairs is either premium or the commercial theater’s normal $160 -170 top price, and the building owners still can get tax-deductible donations, and you have to assume the rent they receive is fully deducted by the renter, yet not taxed normally to the non-profit building owner. Certainly, as they start using their spaces bought by non-profit non-taxed funds and move towards more rental to for-profit shows, their accountants are presumably telling they’re doing something right financially, so they do it more and the other very rich non-profits follow suits. It’s hard to tell which came first, the Mnuchin-and-GOP feeling, since the Roundabout’s Sondheim theater became the home for for-profit rentals years ago, but that felt like an exception then. It's becoming the norm suddenly.

There were so many things wrong with this play, from the rough, pixelated projections (what WAS I looking at?), terrible use of what is essentially an expansive stage (pretending to march into Selma over the oval office carpet is totally unnecessary); to the shouting of drily written lines devoid of any soul. It was a total snooze fest and a bore to watch. I left at intermission.

It turned into "Eyes on the Prize." I suspect the producers wanted to appear "woke" or more likely were bullied into it. Too much MLK. His importance was highlighted and other factors and personalities were minimized as a result.

It was very disappointing that such a rich period in US history came across as so boring in this dull play. There was nothing that the talented cast could do to keep us from nodding out. We left at intermission.