Grant
Ken Bradbury wrote two related plays about Ulysses S. Grant. The three-person play — produced under several titles, A Message at Midnight, A Hardscrabble Christmas, and, in Fritz Klein's annotated revision, Then Pealed the Bells — is set in a White House sitting room on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1864. The Lincolns host an anxious General Grant as Lincoln awaits word, six weeks overdue, from General Sherman, on whose campaign the fate of the Union depends. The evening ends as Mary spots a solitary rider — a military messenger — approaching the White House.
The companion one-man piece, One Last Ride: An Evening with General Grant, has an aging Grant return to his Hardscrabble farm to gather "scraps of a life." It opens with Julia Grant's recollection of their wedding and ranges across Grant's lifelong love of horses, West Point, the war, and his bond with Lincoln.
Songs
This is a play, not a musical: the music is woven in as recitation and production sound rather than vocal numbers.
- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day — Lincoln and Mary read Longfellow's new poem: "I heard the bells on Christmas Day, / Their old, familiar carols play, / And wild and sweet the words repeat, / Of peace on earth good will to men." (recited, not sung)
- O Come All Ye Faithful (Carolers) — heard offstage as production sound; Mary: "Carolers. It's Christmas Eve, Father."
- Bells — Finale — closing the play, tied to the "Then pealed the bells" Longfellow refrain.
Cast
- Abraham Lincoln — Fritz Klein
- Mary Lincoln — Pam Brown
- Ulysses S. Grant — D.A. (Dennis) Rendleman (his first time portraying Grant, in A Hardscrabble Christmas)
Production Notes
Fritz Klein premiered the Ken Bradbury Lincoln play at the Union Theater in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield in the fall of 2014, with the production running in locations around the country through 2016. The three-person play later toured to historic Grant sites: a title page reads "Grant's Farm Historic Site Presents A Hardscrabble Christmas By Ken Bradbury," and promo copy advertised "Message at Midnight, by Ken Bradbury, Featuring Fritz Klein, Pam Brown & Dennis Rendleman," performed Friday, December 15 (2 pm & 7 pm) and Saturday, December 16 (10 am & 1 pm) at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis.
An author's note records that the historical Grant was actually at City Point, Virginia, on that Christmas Eve, but is placed in Washington for the play. The 11-13-2015 production sound assets carry the staging's effects: Track 1 "Grant's Carriage," Track 2 "Grant's footsteps," Track 3 "Carrolers – O Come All Ye Faithful," Track 4 "Ambulance," Track 5 "Messenger Approaches," and Track 6 "Bells – Finale."
The three-person play, under its settled title A Message at Midnight, went on to become an annual holiday tradition at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site's Visitor Center in Springfield — see the full production page for that run's cast, dates, and photos.
Photos
Studio production photos show the costumed cast against a dark backdrop: Fritz Klein as Lincoln in a black frock coat, Pam Brown as Mary in a tartan hoop-skirt period gown, and Dennis Rendleman as Grant — a bearded Union general in dress blues with a cigar. A publicity composite from the Grant's Farm production centers Rendleman as Grant with inset portraits of Klein and Brown.
