'Whitey Bulger was not a Robin Hood,' 'Hunting Whitey' sets sights on Broadway and beyond

CHATHAM — The name White Bulger strikes fear, hatred, and for some, loyalty, into the hearts of many. But at the Chatham Orpheum Theater on Wednesday night, only feelings of love and loyalty were cast at authors Dave Wedge and Cape native Casey Sherman as friends, family, cast and crew packed into the theater to watch a sold-out special screening of their stage show "Hunting Whitey."

“I've known Casey since I was in second grade,” Jason Lucas said. “I'm here to support my buddy.”

The screening was a one-night-only event, aimed at helping raise money — over $2,000 — for the theater's children's cultural program, which provides free matinee movies throughout the summer to kids and their caregivers.

“Nobody else is going to see this," Kevin McLain, director of the Chatham Orpheum Theater said. "We're deleting it off our system when it's over … So it's a moment that is once in a lifetime and I think it's rare to have that.

“(Casey) brought this to us and said, ‘I don't want anything. I just want to bring this and show it to the people of Cape Cod. I don't want any money, and you can charge whatever you want and we can do whatever we want with the money,'" he said.

The film was a recording of the "Hunting Whitey" play premiere. Thursday's screening was a first look for everyone, including audience members who weren't lucky enough to get tickets to the single live performance, with Yellowstone star Neal McDonough playing the infamous mobster, after it sold out at the Wilbur Theater in May.

“They’ve never actually seen it,” director Ian Barrett said during a Q&A after the screening. “We did this on Zoom and then we did a dry, fast rehearsal for blocking only and then we did it live. We only got done live with the entire cast one time.”

Even with a son — Nick Franco — as a stage manager, Lisa Marshall was like so many in the audience who missed the live show but wanted to show support for Sherman.

“My son was the stage manager for the play in Boston and I've been friends with Casey Sherman for a long time,” Marshall said.

For those who weren’t at Thursday's event, you're not enitrely out of luck as Sherman and Wedge hope to bring their show to Broadway and beyond.

“The live show you saw tonight first of all, it's a gift to the cast and a celebration of what we've created, but really it's a proof of concept that we're gonna bring to people to invest in (and) make this a real production that we're gonna bring around the world," Wedge said. "We want to bring it to (Los Angeles), Dublin, London, and eventually, New York, because I think the Whitey Bulger story is one that has captivated audiences around the world but the true story hasn't been told.”

'Hunting Whitey' stuns audience at Chatham Orpheum Theater during special screening

“Hunting Whitey” lays out the real story of Whitey Bulger starting on his first day on the run, Dec. 23 1994, and ending on the day of his death in 2014. The goal of the performance, according to Sherman, is to “demystify” who James “Whitey” Bulger was and bring the truth of his crimes and the corruption of the FBI to the forefront.

“Casey and I never wanted to write a Whitey Bulger book," Wedge said. "But when he was killed in prison, we looked at each other (and) we said, ‘You know what someone's gonna do it, someone's gonna tell the truth of what happened here.’ So that's why we got together and did it and told the truth. The truth of what happened is this: The old FBI died, a new FBI and the young guns caught Whitey Bulger … he went to prison (and) was murdered in prison.”

For McDonough, who couldn't attend Wednesday's screening but sent his well wishes, his role was more than just a part.

“I remember having a conversation with Neal McDonough about this endeavor,” Sherman said during the Q&A. “I told him what we were doing and I said, ‘Well, we're bringing Whitey Bulger to the stage in Boston.’ And Neal goes, ‘Well, I'm Whitey Bulger … this is the role that I was born to play.”

“(He) nailed Whitey Bulger better than Johnny Depp … than Jack Nicholson … and he was really passionate about it," Wedge said.

In three acts, the story of the decades that passed as the FBI “searched" for Bulger, is told in a podcast-style narration by Sherman and Wedge as actors come onto the stage for live performances of their characters.

"For the first time anywhere you've got a hybrid live theatrical production," Sherman said. "You've got live theater, mixed with a live podcast, which nobody's ever done before."

Outside of its unique structure, what stands out about “Hunting Whitey” is the wealth of information Sherman and Wedge were able to get about the case and the special attention paid to FBI agent Noreen Gleason.

“The FBI was ready, finally, to tell that story,” Sherman said. “So they reached out to Dave and I, and they opened up all of their case files. They gave us access to all of their FBI agents, and they were able to recognize the vulnerability that the agency had in the 1980s and early 1990s by partnering with Whitey Bulger. They also wanted to promote the new age of (FBI Agents) like Noreen Gleason, who to me, is really the hero of tonight's story, somebody that came in (wasn't) jaded by everything that had happened in the past (and) looked at him as an elderly fugitive that she needed to hunt down and brought together a team that actually did it.”

Frankie Rowley covers entertainment and arts. She can be contacted at frowley@capecodonline.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge want 'Hunting Whitey' on global stage