PicksInSix Review: 44 The Musical - Studebaker Theater
“Life Will Never Be The Same.”
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy
As political parodies and impressionists go—there is a difference—one of the best ever, “The First Family,” a 1962 album of President Kennedy’s family life in the White House, won a Grammy Award and sold millions of copies. Comedians Rich Little, Frank Gorshin and Jim Morris made careers with their spot-on impressions of Nixon and Reagan—routines that evolved with the succession of daily events—a formidable task for the writers and impressionists who conceive them. Our fascination with the art form—parody being one of the most complex of all comic forms and impressions, of course, the sincerest form of flattery—hinges on how wide-ranging the comic imagination of the creator’s perception is in telling the underlying truth. If boundaries are imposed, how does the comedian know how absurdly far they can go to frame the familiar personalities and well-established story being told? And, what are the dangers when historical events change the comic margins of parody to something else? How will our comic sensibilities adjust to a new normal?
We age, of course, and our historical perspective—especially regarding events that we've lived through—shifts dramatically over our lifetime. The “First Family” album faded from our consciousness after JFK’s assassination. Little, Gorshin and other Nixon impressionists developed new comic targets after Watergate, as did Morris and his brilliant Reagan transformation—a sought after talent still and frequent guest for years on Jay Leno's The Tonight Show—all but disappeared for a time after the President was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Comedy, whether in political parodies or impressionists, like time, marches on and audiences find their humor as a reflection of current circumstances until those circumstances change.
“44—The Musical” played at the Epiphany Center in Chicago last year during the Democratic convention. I did not see that production but can imagine in the fervor of the presidential campaign that it would be a crowd-pleaser. Following a run in Los Angeles earlier this year with most of the original cast in place, the show has now moved to the Studebaker Theatre—a year of development that feels more like a decade in which the social and political landscape has changed dramatically. Writer/composer/lyricist/director Eli Bauman’s broad, no-holds-barred comic jab at both political parties circa 2008 to 2012, tests our boundaries on many levels. At this particularly unsettling political moment it’s a bit of a mixed and overstuffed bag.
No reflection on the worthy performances of a cast that includes T.J. Wilkins and Shanice as Barack and Michelle, the over-the-top antics of Chad Doreck as narrator Joe Biden, Chicago's own multi-talented Kelly Felthous as Hillary Clinton, and a cavalcade of supporting characters led by the atmospheric voice of Summer Nicole Greer as the Voice of the People and a cast that shakes (a saucy Summer Collins as Sarah Palin), rattles (Dino Shorté as Herman Cain), rocks—Jeff Sumner (Lindsey Graham) and Michael Uribes (Ted Cruz)—and rolls with Larry Cedar (Mitch McConnell) and Jevon McFerrin (brother Abe Lincoln). There is no doubt that this is a company whose investment in the show is as resolute as the desk in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden's entertaining narrative begins as Barack Obama is planning a run for the White House in 2008 and follows his presidency to the 2012 election. Major turning points in Obama’s first term serve as markers—Obamacare, Congressional obstruction, Race in America, Barack and Michelle at home in the White House, Dr. Suess, Bin Laden, and Sandy Hook— and musical touchstones at times crisply overlapping each other—many with Green’s magnificent soaring vocals—all under the musical direction of Anthony “Brew” Brewster. Throughout the emotional arc of the show is the steady hand of Wilson's Obama—a commanding presence nearly as charismatic as the original—not like Rich Little’s famous impressions, but rather Jim Morris’s soulful embodiment of the man.
In the end, though, Bauman’s effort appears to be existing in a time warp of its own making that abruptly evaporated on November 5, 2024. There is a lot of potential and a fair amount of too-much-of-a-good-thing content wise that is often blue—a comedian's reference to rude language, off-color jokes and sexual innuendo, not the political party. “44” is definitely mature fare that, in its’ current form, puts the risk in risqué for general audiences. With an eye focused on the upcoming New York debut, it’s not too late to streamline the show and thereby accentuate the Obama legacy. For the curious who cannot wait, I encourage you to attend “44” and bask in the silliness and extravagance of the one line that summed up the show for me: “Life will never be the same.”
PHOTO|Michael Brosilow
Monica Saunders-Weinberg
and
Eli Bauman
present
44 The Musical
Studebaker Theater
Fine Arts Building
through September 21
WEBSITE
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