John Davidson, who starred in the Broadway and road productions of the musical State Fair, will be canvassing the United States as President Teddy Roosevelt in Bully. The tour commences Oct. 11 in Fort Collins, CO, where it will play a four-night stand.
Jerome Alden's Bully premiered on Broadway Nov. 1, 1977. The production starred James Whitmore as the 26th president and was directed by Peter Hunt. However, the show, which tracked Roosevelt's political and personal adventures, failed to catch on with audiences and ran for only 7 performances.
The new production will be directed by Joe Leonardo, the veteran of national tours of Me and My Girl and City or Angels, and is produced by NETworks, Stamford Center for the Arts, the Ordway Music Theatre and The Booking Group. Davidson has had a long and varied career. He made his Broadway debut in 1964 as Bert Lahr's son in the musical Foxy. The next year he played Curly in a City Center revival of Oklahoma!. He went on to experience success in films and television and is perhaps best known to many Americans as the host of the TV show "That's Incredible!" He has also guest hosted "The Tonight Show" and recorded a dozen albums.
State Fair played at the Music Box Theatre in the spring and summer of 1996. The following tour nearly foundered in a dispute with Actors' Equity Association, the actors' union, which was eventually settled. Davidson, who starred on Broadway as pig farmer Abel Frake, repeated his role in the tour, under a one-time Equity contract.
Here is the tour schedule for Bully: Oct. 11-14: Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO
Oct. 16-18: Rudder Auditorium, Bryan/ College Station, TX
Oct. 19: Hippodrome Theatre, Waco, TX
Oct. 20: The Cowan Center, University of Texas, Tyler, TX
Oct. 21: The Center for the Performing Arts, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK
Oct. 25: Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, Des Moines, IA
Oct. 27-28: Main Stage, State University of N.Y., Buffalo, NY
Oct. 30: Hershey Theater, Hershey, PA
Nov. 1: Eisenhower Hall Theatre, West Point, NY
Nov. 4: The Egg, Albany, NY
Nov. 5-8: Scranton Cultural Center, Scranton, PA
Nov. 11: Civic Center/ Crouse-Hinds Theatre, Syracuse, NY
Nov. 13-22: Dupont Playhouse, Wilmington, DE
Jan.11-17: Tennessee Center For The Performing Arts, Nashville, TN
Feb. 5-7: Newberry Opera House, Newberry, SC
Feb. 9: Stevens Center, Winston Salem, NC
Feb. 10,11: Opera House, Macon, GA
Feb. 12: Davis Theater, Montgomery, AL
Feb. 14: Lutcher Theater, Orange, TX
Feb. 26-28: Auditorium, Lubbock, TX
Mar. 2-7: Rose State PAC, Oklahoma City, OK
Mar. 11: Center For The Arts, Cerritos, CA
Mar. 12: McCallum Theater, Palm Desert, CA
Mar. 14: Sun Dome, Sun City West, AZ
Mar. 21: Rushmore Civic Plaza, Rapid City, SD
Mar. 23: Opera House, Spokane, WA
Apr. 13,14: Philharmonic Hall, Naples, FL
Apr. 15-18: Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Apr. 23: The Princess Theatre, Decatur, AL
-- By Robert Simonson
