The Production

A Passion for Justice received its world premiere production at The American Century Theater in 2000, starring Paul Morella as Clarence Darrow. 

The show subsequently enjoyed extended runs at three major regional theatres, receiving widespread critical acclaim and playing to sold-out audiences. In 2002, there was a demand to take the show on the road, and Mr. Morella began touring with the production on his own, presenting a tightened version that could be performed with minimal set and few technical needs.  

Since then, he has performed the show for some of the most elite and prestigious trial lawyers, law firms, legal organizations, bar associations, and law schools in the country, in venues ranging from hotel ballrooms, classrooms, outdoor amphitheaters, courtrooms, churches, resorts, a beach club, a winery, and even a hunting club in Center, Texas (on behalf of Jack Ruby’s lawyer, Joe Tonahill, and the society formed in his name).  

He was invited by Tom Girardi (Erin Brockovich’s lawyer) to present the show for the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on a bill that included Heidi Fleiss, James Carville and Tony Bennett. Much like Hal Holbrook’s Mark Twain Tonight, no two performances are exactly the same, and Mr. Morella adjusts and adapts each presentation for the specific audience involved, bringing to the present a Clarence Darrow as fresh and vibrant as the day he spoke.

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