INTRODUCTION

From the beginning, Michael Butler has been a forward-thinker who's associated himself with other forward-thinkers.

It was appropriate that the first production he would invest in would be West Side Story, which dealt with issues of racism and other-ism … and eventually a show like HAIR .

After all, more than any other show of its day (or since), HAIR has been the seminal declaration of modern times' biggest sea-change: the explosion of self-expression that accompanied the birth of modern notions of pacifism, environmentalism and civil rights.

BIO

But it didn't have to be.

The Butler family came to this country in 1654. The Duke of Ormonde, head of the Butler family, was the chief steward of Ireland for Charles I. When Cromwell took over, the Butlers fled Ireland. The Duke of Ormonde went to Paris with Prince Charles, while William Butler (of whom Michael is a direct descendent) went to Massachusetts.

Born in Chicago to this conservative yet reactionary family, also the biggest landowners in DuPage County, he could easily have been just another spoiled playboy, turning a blind eye to the social changes roiling beneath the visible shape of things.

Instead, Michael found himself in the company of revolutionaries looking to move society forward, who also saw the need for change: people like Jack, Bob and Ted Kennedy.

He was Special Advisor to then-Senator John F. Kennedy on the Middle East, and then worked for Bobby Kennedy. As a Democratic candidate for state Senate in Illinois' most Republican country, Michael garnered more votes than any other Democratic candidate in history. After that, he ran for U.S. Senate.

At some point he became aware that the theatre could be as powerful an engine for social change as office.

His efforts, both political and cultural, did not go unnoticed.

After HAIR , he was honored twice with inclusion on President Richard Nixon's “Enemies List."

HAIR

It was in 1967, as Michael was visiting New York City (on business related to Otto Kerner's Commission on Civil Rights), that he saw an ad in the New York Times for HAIR at the Public Theater.

Seeing the poster's depiction of tribal chiefs, and reading the words "American Tribal Love-Rock Musical," Michael thought the play was about Native American issues. As his grandfather once ran cattle ranches in Montana and the Dakotas, he had a deep love for the Native American people.

Instead, Michael saw what he described as "the strongest anti-war statement ever written," and decided to obtain rights to the show.

And the rest is history.

TODAY

As this assemblage of photos will attest, Michael Butler's life has been rich indeed. "Rich" like an encyclopedia, or perhaps a treasured document from the birth of a nation.

But in fact, his career and life are the same treasure each of us has to offer, if we choose: a life lived in pursuit of ideals.

Michael's legacy continues today with POPE JOAN , about a female pope who likely reigned in the 850s, between the papacies of Leo IV and Benedict III.

Truth or fiction? Does it matter?

In Michael Butler's world, we are always writing the future.