Check this page frequently for performances, appearances, and other David Selby news. Visit the Welcome page for a list of recent updates to the web site and for information on how to receive notifications whenever the site is updated.
From Man to Myth: Abraham Lincoln Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow |
David Selby most recently played the role of Abraham Lincoln in The Heavens are Hung in Black, a new play by James Still commissioned to celebrate the grand reopening of Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC and the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 2009. The play focuses on the five-month period between the death of Lincoln's son, Willie, and the delivery of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Visit the Recent Appearances area at the bottom of this page for more information about David's appearance in The Heavens Are Hung in Black. The Photos section includes rehearsal and production photos, images from the Ford's Theatre grand re-opening gala with President and Mrs. Obama, and links to YouTube videos related to the play and the gala.
David has also portrayed Lincoln on television in an episode of Touched by an Angel and an episode of the ABC series Directions titled "Flatboat Man," a musical account of Lincoln's early days in New Salem, Illinois. Images from his appearance as Lincoln on Touched by an Angel are in the Photos section.
He recently narrated Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait with the San Luis Obispo Symphony.
David has also written about Abraham Lincoln. His stage play, Lincoln and James, in which he also portrayed Lincoln in performances in the late 1990s in New York, Washington, DC, and West Virginia, was re-imagined as a novel, Lincoln's Better Angel. It is a fictional account of a meeting between Abraham Lincoln and the African-American Vietnam veteran charged with maintaining the Lincoln Memorial for the National Park Service. For more information about Lincoln's Better Angel, please visit the Books page. Click here to view David as Abraham Lincoln from a performance of Lincoln and James at West Virginia University.
|
Above: Actor David Selby, who starred as President Abraham Lincoln in Ford Theatre’s world premiere of “The Heavens Are Hung In Black,” stopped by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, on February 9 as conservator Shelley Sturman was in the process of installing the final plaster model of the Lincoln statue designed by American sculptor Daniel Chester French for the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. It is joined by the original wood model of the Memorial by American architect Henry Bacon for a year-long focus exhibition, Designing the Lincoln Memorial: Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon. Photo by Rob Shelley. © 2009 National Gallery of Art.
|
Celebration of Stories |
In May, David Selby will participate in a Celebration of Stories presented by Speaking of Stories, an organization whose mission is "to promote the appreciation of literature through live theatrical readings and through educational programs, aimed particularly toward at risk youth in our community." Also appearing will be Pamela and Bradford Dillman and author T.C. Boyle.
The event takes place at the Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara, California. Performances are Sunday, May 9, at 2:00 pm, and Monday, May 10, at 7:30 pm. General admission tickets are $25. Student tickets are $10. Contact the box office by phone at 805-963-0408. Click here to purchase online tickets to the Sunday afternoon performance. Click here to purchase online tickets to the Monday evening performance.
For additional information, visit the Center Stage Theater site or the Speaking of Stories site.
|
In connection with the ongoing exhibition, 
The Social Network |
David will appear in The Social Network, a movie about the founding of Facebook, the social networking web site. David Fincher (Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) directs a screenplay written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Charlie Wilson's War).
|
Inhale |
David Selby will appear in the upcoming independent film Inhale (filmed under the working title Run for Her Life) as Dr. White. The film stars Sam Shepard, Dermot Mulroney, Diane Kruger, and Jordi Molla. The director is Baltasar Kormakur.
|
New Dark Shadows Audio Dramas from Big Finish |
For more information, check out the announcement from Big Finish.
Visit Stephen Mark Rainey's web site for cover art from Blood Dance.
Eric Wallace's blog includes photographs and accounts of recording sessions for Kingdom of the Dead.
|
David continues to appear in Big Finish's ongoing series of new Dark Shadows audio dramas, including Blood Dance by Stephen Mark Rainey, featuring Quentin Collins in prohibition-era Chicago, and London's Burning, featuring Quentin Collins in turn-of-the-century London. Kingdom of the Dead, a new full-cast mini-series written by Stuart Manning and Eric Wallace, is also in the works. The photograph on the left is from a recording session for Kingdom of the Dead.
Falcon Crest Coming to DVD in the United States | ||
|
Lincoln's Better Angel |
David Selby is best known as a television, stage and film actor, but he is also a writer. Raised and educated in West Virginia and Illinois, and residing in California, his writing touches the heart of the matter for many cultures, and always with a measure of humor and perceptive insight.
The Story Lincoln’s Better Angel was inspired by an event the author read about in the Washington Post. The story he creates reflects on the personal impact of war and historical perspective.
A walk with President Abraham Lincoln and Vietnam Veteran Charles Huggins through Washington D.C., on a hot Fourth of July night, becomes a walk through history. Layering time, grief, humor and fantasy, Selby presents a story that is both moving and engaging.
What the Reviewers Write “David Selby has presented a charming novel....Selby has Lincoln speaking in a mix of noble sentiments and very common wisdom—a perfect combination for the Great Emancipator. Lincoln is clearly a person we wish we knew better, and in Selby’s work we come to know him as never before.” —Michael P. Riccards, author, Ferocious Engine of Democracy, a two-volume history of the presidency
“Lincoln’s Better Angel gives us a history lesson, and Lincoln’s words and actions demonstrate how he changed our way of thinking and made it possible for all of us to be the best that we can be.” —Rafer Johnson, Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal Winner, author, and humanitarian
“From its opening paragraph, Lincoln’s Better Angel is touching, and at times astonishing. David Selby has created a living, breathing Lincoln, true to historical roots, yet alive and relevant in today’s world. Any student of American history will be dazzled by Selby’s interpretation of Lincoln and his plausible reactions to contemporary events. With every page, you tumble further into this amazing world, and meet a charming, wise and surprising ghost of Lincoln.” —Bob Rogers, BRC Imagination Arts, Executive Producer of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum
“David L. Selby has brought the ghost of Lincoln back to Washington D.C. where he appears to a Vietnam veteran assigned to the Lincoln Memorial. They discuss the past and the present in a very imaginative and philosophical dialogue. A most entertaining read.” —Wayne C. Temple, historian and author of Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet and other works, and Chief Deputy Director, Illinois State Archive
To purchase Lincoln's Better Angel, please visit the Books page.
David was recently interviewed by West Virginia Public radio about Lincoln's Better Angel. Click here to access the transcript and the audio.
|
The Author 
Unscripted on Canada's Vision TV | |
In January 2010, David appeared on Unscripted, an interview series airing on Canada's Vision TV. The YouTube clip on the left features a 5-minute excerpt from the interview.
Click here to visit the Unscripted web site and watch the complete episode as well as a bonus behind-the-scenes clip.
| |
Olivia Wilder Times on Blog Talk Radio | |
Olivia Wilder interviewed David Selby live on Olivia Wilder Times on Blog Talk Radio on Tuesday, December 8, beginning at 10:00 pm ET (7:00 pm PT). Listeners called in questions by phone. Registered BlogTalkRadio users participated in an online chat and submitted questions and comments during the broadcast. Use the player below to listen to the interview.
| |
A Lincoln Portrait with the San Luis Obispo Symphony | |
David Selby narrated the San Luis Obispo Symphony performance of Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait on Saturday, November 14, at 8:00 pm at the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo, California.
This performance was part of the Classics in the Cohan series. Season tickets are available now. Individual tickets go on sale in early September.
Visit the San Luis Obispo Symphony web site for details.
| |
Mad Men |
David Selby appeared in the third season of the AMC series Mad Men. He played Horace Cook, Sr. in an episode titled "The Arrangements." The episode premiered on Sunday, September 6, at 10:00 pm Eastern. Check your cable provider's On Demand options to see if the episode is available. The episode is also available from iTunes. The episode will be available on DVD on March 23, 2010.
Watch an episode recap below.
|
The Heavens Are Hung in Black | |
|
David Selby played the role of Abraham Lincoln in The Heavens are Hung in Black, a new play by James Still commissioned to celebrate the grand reopening of Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC and the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 2009. Previews began February 3 with performances through March 8.Celebrating Abraham Lincoln's 200th Birthday at Washington's National Cathedral |
David Selby joined Howard University Professor Edna Greene Medford and Washington National Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III for a Sunday Forum celebrating Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday on Sunday, February 22, at 10:10 am. The event was free and open to the public. It was webcast live on the Cathedral's home page. The audio and video are archived on the Cathedral web site. This event is also available on DVD. Visit the Cathedral's DVD shop to purchase it. (Look for Sunday Forum: Lincoln Celebration.)
|