Brownwood News – The Brownwood Lyric Theater raises the curtain on its presentation of Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men” tonight at 7:30. The show, directed by Larry Mathis, features a cast of Lyric favorites as well as new comers, all of which have been hard at work since before the New Year.
The play is based on an incident experienced by the playwrights sister, and tells the tale of two Marines who are charged with murder, the orders they followed, and the cover up that ensued. The first act sees the setting up of events, in similar fashion to the movie, with a fiery courtroom drama beginning in act two. There are deviations from the movie, as the play was written first, however much of the dialogue will be familiar.
BISD Community Relations coordinator Charlie Musgrove, who plays Captain Markinson, has been on the Lyric stage before, and was very excited to appear in this production.
“I grew up watching this movie, it was always a favorite of mine. I never thought I would get a chance to be in a production of it, so this is definitely a treat,” Musgrove said.
Ben Cox returns to the theater for what he calls “a bucket-list role,” as Colonel Nathan Jessup, played in the movie by Jack Nicholson. The role delivers one of the top 100 most quotable lines in cinematic history, according to the American Film Institute: “You can’t handle the truth.”
“Those are big shoes to fill, and its definitely a challenge to make the character my own while delivering lines done so well by Mr Nicholson,” Cox said. “It’s almost like you tell yourself ‘How do I improve on something an actor of that caliber did?’ but when I am saying those words, I am so caught up in the moment that any second guessing goes right out the window.”
The cast is rounded out by Matthew McNiece as Daniel Kaffe, Val Nelson as JoAnne Galloway, Graham Dudley as Sam Wienberg, Landry Blackstock as Lieutenant Johnathan Kendrick, Paul and Jill Underwood, Shade Tidwell, Doug House, Scott Bonham, Rick Phelps and many others.
The play begins at 7:30 this evening, with two performances on the 17th at 2:30 and 7:30 and a matinee on Sunday at 2:30. Next week sees a change in the schedule, with two shows on Friday the 23rd, and evening performance that Saturday and the final matinee performance on Sunday the 25th.
Tickets are available at brownwoodlyrictheater.com, or can be purchased at the box office. According to director Larry Mathis, “You’re always going to be able to get a seat if you buy them that night at the box office. But if you have a particular seat that you like, you run the risk of it not being available if you don’t get your tickets in advance.”
