If the current political scene feels unbearably divisive, maybe it’s time to gain a little historical perspective.
That’s something local playwright and history buff Don Hood is happy to provide.
This weekend, at the Hammer Theatre, Hood directs the world premiere of The Other Mr. Lincoln, an original musical he wrote about 60 years in the life of Robert Todd Lincoln. This turbulent time brought the son of Abraham Lincoln in close proximity to three political assassinations: his own father’s, as well as those of James Garfield and William McKinley.
Hood asserts that once he heard about Robert Todd Lincoln’s history, “This whole story began to just evolve in front of me.”
For the past decade he’s worked on The Other Mr. Lincoln—17 songs and 11 different genres of music, “moving from genre to genre, era to era, time frame to time frame.
“Anybody who tells you that these things happen overnight—they’re crazy or lying. It just doesn’t happen that way,” Hood says.
Hood wrote the book and lyrics, and collaborated with an old friend to bring the story to life. Before he graduated from UCLA’s Theatre Arts Department, Hood went to San Jose High School with Harry Reed, a composer and music teacher who works with more than 15 schools in three districts in Santa Clara County.
Back in high school, Hood and Reed would do ad hoc shows (e.g., Butterfinger—“our spoof of Goldfinger”) in the school cafeteria to entertain the students at lunch. “You gotta start somewhere,” Hood says.
By 2017 Reed was involved in composing music for the songs. They were working toward getting the play produced in time for the 2020 election. Instead, the pandemic shut down stage productions, leaving little opportunity to get one of the local companies to produce the musical. “I ended up going out and soliciting the funding myself,” Hood says.
That funding led to the show’s four-performance run at the Hammer Theatre in downtown San Jose, with performances Oct. 10–12.
Because he wanted it to be as accurate to history as possible, Hood decided to incorporate a historian/narrator figure in the production. Brian Adams, a TV journalist who worked at KICU 36 and KTVU 2—plays the historian. “He and I have known each other for about 20 years,” Hood recollects. “There’s no better voice of authority than his. Trust me.”
Hood’s production company, Showcase Theater Actors’ Repertory, highlights many types of theatrical talents. “I have an incredible crew of designers,” Hood says. “I have five costumers on this, I have three stage managers.”
He elaborates, explaining that “Judie Luu is our costume design; she’s fantastic. [Lighting designer] Lucas Ward is doing the lighting. … I have given these people autonomy to create. The primary stage manager is named The T.”
For Hood, he’s crystal-clear on the significance of the eras portrayed in The Other Mr. Lincoln.
“Lincoln was assassinated before he was able to implement the Reconstruction—which was detrimental [then] and is still detrimental today,” Hood explains. Then, “Garfield came along and asked Robert Lincoln to help him write Reconstruction 2.0. … And then [Garfield is] assassinated.”
But because Hood is a self-described optimist, his take on this dark corner of history contains hope.
“We try to do things right in this country and we get sidetracked or we get roadblocked. Or something else happens. And then we work through it. …
“But it is a slow progress, because there are mitigating factors and opposition,” Hood continues. “And of course the founders wanted it that way. They wanted progress slow, and they wanted opposition heard. The one thing they didn’t want was opposition stopped. They wanted the country to continue to go forward.”
The Other Mr. Lincoln will be performed Oct. 10–11 at 8pm and Oct. 12 at 2pm and 8pm. Tickets: (408) 924-8501. A food and beverage reception after each performance is included in the ticket price. Tickets: events.sjsu.edu.
