Camp David, a new drama about President Jimmy Carter's Nobel Prize-winning efforts to bring the leaders of Israel and Egypt to sign a peace agreement after years of war, will star Richard Thomas (Carter) and Hallie Foote (First Lady Rosalynn Carter) in its upcoming West Coast premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.
The show begins previews May 13 and opens May 20 for a limited run through June 19. Also in the cast: Ned Eisenberg (Israeli leader Menachem Begin) and Egyptian film star Khald Nabawy (Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat).
Camp David previously announced that it is also being prepared for Broadway in the 2016-17 season, though not necessarily with this cast.
Thomas won an Emmy Award for his work on the long-running TV series “The Waltons,“ but has a stage career that includes Broadway appearances in Sunrise at Campobello. The Fifth of July, The Seagull, The Front Page, Democracy, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, 12 Angry Men and others.
Molly Smith will direct both the San Diego and Broadway productions of the play by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, screenwriter and journalist Lawrence Wright, whose book "Thirteen Days in September," covered the same events. Wright won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11."
Tickets for the Old Globe production are currently available by subscription only. Starting at $29, they will go on sale to the general public on April 8 at noon.online at TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.
The creative team includes Walt Spangler (scenic design), Paul Tazewell (costume design), Pat Collins (lighting design), David Van Tieghem (original music and sound design), Jeff Sugg (projection design), David Huber (vocal coach), Geoff Josselson, CSA (casting), Susan R. White and Peter Van Dyke (production stage managers) and Gerald Rafshoon (producer).
Camp David had its world premiere at Washington D.C.’s Arena Stage in 2014.
Here's how the producers describe Camp David: "The play offers a gripping day-by-day account of the 1978 Camp David conference, when President Carter persuaded Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to sign the first peace treaty in the modern Middle East, one which endures to this day."
The real-life ex-president revealed plans for the production June 25, 2015 in an interview with the Associated Press, saying, “It will be quite an emotional experience for me to see (Camp David) on Broadway.” It will be produced on Broadway by Steve Traxler and Gerald Rafshoon.
