LBJ drama 'The Great Society' headed to Broadway

Lyndon Johnson might not have wanted a second full term as President, but he's getting a second shot at Broadway. Robert Schenkkan has written "The Great Society," a sequel to his Tony Award-winning "All the Way," which is getting a 12-week limited run at Lincoln Center's Broadway house, the Vivian Beaumont Theater, with previews starting Sept. 6. No official opening date was announced.

The drama picks up the story from the first play, which chronicled Johnson's presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy until his election to a full term. "All the Way" won the 2014 Tony for best play and Bryan Cranston, who played LBJ in that production, was named best actor.

No repeat performance for Cranston, though. In the new production, Brian Cox, who played Winston Churchill in the 2017 film "Churchill," will portray the 36th president of the United States as he navigates the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement following his landslide victory in 1964.

Others in the production, again directed by Bill Rauch, include Marc Kudisch as Richard J. Daley, Richard Thomas as Hubert Humphrey and Grantham Coleman, making his Broadway debut, as Martin Luther King Jr. Among roles yet to be cast: Robert F. Kennedy, Coretta Scott King, J. Edgar Hoover and Lady Bird Johnson.