Mike Hartman last year completed the ‘Plainsong Trilogy’ of plays written by Eric Schmiedl from the books by Kent Haruf with ‘Benediction.’ Photo by Jennifer M. Koskinen.
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MEET MIKE HARTMAN
Rep. Howard “Judge” Smith, Sen. Everett Dirkesen and Gov. Carl Sanders in All the Way

At the DCPA Theatre Company: 17 seasons, including Benediction, Death of a Salesman, Other Desert Cities, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Great Wall Story, To Kill A Mockingbird, Superior Donuts, The Catch, Eventide, A Raisin in the Sun, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Richard III, Glengarry Glen Ross, Plainsong, You Can’t Take It With You, A Christmas Carol, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, King Lear, Season’s Greetings, All My Sons, Dirty Story, The Grapes of Wrath. Broadway: The Grapes of Wrath, The Kentucky Cycle, Sherlock Holmes. Other Theatres: cowboyily (Creede Rep), The People’s Temple (Guthrie), Cleveland Play House ( eight seasons), Cincinnati Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Center Stage, Kennedy Center, Geva Playhouse, Virginia Stage.

• Hometown: Dayton, Ohio, but I’ve lived in New York since 1975 and spent much of the past 17 years in Denver.
• Training: Otterbein University
• What was the role that changed your life: I played four roles, including one of the Narrators, in Steppenwolf Theatre’s production of The Grapes of Wrath. The production won the Tony Award for best play. I got the part from an Equity open call. I was one of  600 actors who auditioned. That made me realize I had to do everything I could on  my end, and then let it go.
• Why are you an actor? I became an actor after studying for the ministry. I started having more religious experiences in the theatre than in the church. Also: There were a lot of pretty girls.
• What would you be doing for a career if you weren’t an actor? I would be a forest ranger. I love the woods and nature. We have a place in the Catskills that I wander in the woods with my dog, Jack the wonder dog. 
• Ideal scene partner: Jimmy Stewart. He’s my favorite.
• Why does All the Way matter? Because we know so little about history and how things happen to be the way they are.
• What do you hope the audience gets out of it? All the Way is an historical perspective of the lives of LBJ and MLK, the men. We are not perfect. We do the best we can. This is a play about ideals.
• Finish this sentence: “All I want is …”
  “… for all of us to be able to look at people with love in our hearts and see them for who they are. Not black, white, women, men, different religions, gay or straight. But humans struggling to survive. … I also want another Baltimore Orioles World Series championship before I die.” 

All The Way: Ticket information