Murrow, a one-character drama about the life of legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow by a member of The Theater Project's playwrights’ workshop, will open at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, TX, on April 11. The play, by Joseph Vitale, had its world premiere at The Theater Project in 2015 and ran Off-Off Broadway at the Phoenix Theatre in 2016.
The play traces Murrow’s life from his early days in radio, through his broadcasts from London during the Blitz, to the McCarthy TV broadcast of March 1954, and ends with his departure from CBS News in the late 1950s.
The Dallas production is being produced by Bren Rapp, directed by Montgomery Sutton, and will star New York stage actor Nicolas Greco in the title role.
“Murrow tells the story of a great American life,” says Vitale, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America as well as a trustee of The Theater Project. “His career spans the history of broadcast journalism in the U.S. He was instrumental in the birth of both radio and television news and he warned, early on, about the corrosive effects of advertising and entertainment on the news. His decision to take on Joe McCarthy at the height of the senator’s power may well be broadcast journalism’s finest hour. In an age of pseudo-news and infotainment, Murrow’s life and career – and his warnings – could not be more relevant.”
"It's incredibly gratifying whenever plays that we have nurtured in our workshop find a larger audience," says Theater Project artistic director Mark Spina. "Joe Vitale has contributed so much insight and guidance to other writers -- his success is especially well-derserved."
The genesis of the play dates to Vitale’s days at Columbia Journalism School, where one of his professors was Fred W. Friendly, Murrow’s long-time collaborator and producer. “It was Fred’s stories about Murrow, and especially the McCarthy broadcast, that got me thinking about the play,” says Vitale. In addition, he was able to interview Murrow’s wife, Janet, and one of the reporters who worked with Murrow during World War II, David Schoenbrun.
The play will run April 11-21, 2024 at AT&T Center’s Hamon Hall. Tickets for performances are $29.50 and are available for purchase online.
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