Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer Will Play Martha Graham in The First Lady

Broadway alums Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer and Ben Cook have joined the cast of Showtime’s The First Lady. Season 1 of the anthology series will follow the lives of Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford, Michelle Obama in their journey to the White House, their time there, and what happened after.

Deadline reports Kritzer (Beetlejuice) will play choreographer Martha Graham, who taught Ford in the late ‘30s. Cook (West Side Story) is set to portray Ford son Steven.

//assets.playbill.com/editorial/1d5ba3498ac1bd1ff7b281e70919984f-viola-davis.jpg — Viola Davis Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com

Also new to the cast are Aya Cash as Esther Liebowitz (Betty’s press secretary), Jake Picking as a young Gerald, Cayden Boyd as Michael Ford (the couple’s oldest son), Marc Hills as Jack Ford (their second eldest son), Thomas E. Sullivan as Bill Warren (Betty’s first husband), and Patrice Johnson Chevannes as Clara Powell (The Ford’s family friend and confidante).

Earlier this year, it was announced that Tony and Oscar winner Viola Davis would play Michelle Obama, with Lexi Underwood as Malia Obama, O-T Fagbenle as Barack Obama, and Derek Cecil as Donald Rumsfeld. Recent Golden Globe winner Gillian Anderson will play Eleanor Roosevelt, and Michelle Pfieffer as Betty Ford.

The First Lady is executive produced by Davis with Susanne Bier, who also directs the series.