Overview
HOLD ON! is about the struggle for democratic rights which took place in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. The heart of the play is a complex struggle between Martin Luther King and Lyndon Baines Johnson set against thunderous, fast-moving events. Both brilliant leaders at the peak of their powers, their personal battle — like the battle on the streets of Selma — is ultimately decided by King’s moral courage.
Casting & Production
Casting
ANNIE LEE COOPER/VIOLA — African-American
WALTER/ COLONEL AL LINGO/ STATE TROOPER — White
CORETTA KING — African-American
MARTIN LUTHER KING — African-American
RALPH ABERNATHY — African-American
HOSEAH WILLIAMS — African-American
ANDREW YOUNG — African-American
REGISTRAR/ DICK GOODWIN/ STATE TROOPER — White
LEVERNE/ DEPUTY/ STATE TROOPER — White
JIMMIE LEE JACKSON — African-American
SHERIFF CLARK/ GEORGE WALLACE/STATE TROOPER — White
DELLA/ GERRI — African-American
LYNDON JOHNSON/ STATE TROOPER — White
JOHN LEWIS — African-American
JAMES FORMAN — African-American
Setting
Place
Selma, Alabama and Washington, D.C.
Time
Early 1965
Reviews
“Spellbinding storytelling.”
—Broadway World
”Ferocity and ingenuity and sheer believability…with the playwright’s artful sense of behind-the-scenes realpolitik, the show climbs and climbs.”
—Talkin’ Broadway