Bill Clinton's teen years get stage time in the folk opera "Billy Blythe" (Billy Clinton didn't take his stepfather's name until age 14) which premiered with a bare-bones reading on June 19 and 20 at the Medicine Show Theater in New York, the seated actors clad in blue-collar uniforms. Clinton, who was of course invited, was a no-show, but several Arkansas theaters have reportedly shown interest in producing the show. ARTINFO took the opportunity to reminisce about five stage productions that turned political fodder into the performing arts.?
"You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush"
After years of starring as George W. Bush on "Saturday Night Live," funnyman Will Farrell wrote and starred in the 2009 play, which had a limited run on Broadway, eventually becoming an HBO special. Farrell touches upon different parts of Bush's life, delving into the ex-president's many sides, including "cowboy" Bush, "flight suit" Bush, and the Bush we all saw the most of, "suit" Bush.
"The Lifeguard: Ronald Reagan and His Story"
Playwright David Rambo penned the one-act play, which will star Robert Forster as Reagan. Rambo even met with Reagan's daughter, Patti, for his research, telling the L.A. Times that the play will focus more on Reagan as a person than as a president. The production is supposed to tour this year.
"Nixon in China"
Critics thought John Adams' three-act opera that premiered in Houston in 1987 would vanish into oblivion soon after its debut, but they were wrong. It survived, with the latest incarnation of the piece, which recounts Richard Nixon's 1972 visit with Chairman Mao Tse-tung, staged at the Metropolitan Opera earlier this year to much acclaim.
"JFK: A Musical Drama"
The 1997 musical about John F. Kennedy's relationship with his father, Joseph, tanked at its Dublin debut, closing after just 10 days. Efforts to gain backers to put the revamped production, renamed, "Jack," on Broadway, failed after two New York showcases in 1998.
"Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party"
Aaron Loeb's 2010 hit comedy has plenty of dancing. The production is centered around a fourth-grade Illinois Christmas pageant that causes an uproar when it questions Lincoln's sexuality. Loeb was inspired to compose the play when historians found evidence that suggested the former president might have been homosexual.
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