‘THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER’: Michael Moore. Photo: Joan Marcus

MICHAEL MOORE: THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER
Written by Michael Moore
Directed by Michael Mayer
Through October 22, 2017
Belasco Theatre
111 West 44th Street.
(212-239-6200), www.MichaelMooreOnBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Hatred, bigotry, antisemitism and white supremacy have gotten so out of hand in this country that it is time to listen to Michael Moore. Whether you liked or disliked him in the past as a person, or thought his viewpoints and thinking were too radical, you must hear and listen to him now. If you have been revolted by Donald Trump’s lack of action and viewpoints, intolerable behavior and the many ways he has divided the nation, it is time to listen to Michael Moore.  If the last seven months have seemed like seven interminable years, and you have had enough of the “fire and fury,” “de-nuke the world,” bombastic rhetoric of a maniacal, egotistical, showboating, narcissistic, bullying, and totally incompetent president, one who calls the media “fake news” and spews “alternate facts,” then I suggest you rush to the Belasco Theatre for a cathartic, amusing and healing evening in the theater.

Sure, there are myriads of late-night TV show hosts and comics who have been spreading the gospel of anti-Trumpism: Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, Trevor Noah, Seth Meyer, etc. Thank God for all of them. However, there is a certain filter to them that has to fit to the confines and restraints of television parameters.  Michael Moore has no filter, he is passionate in telling the truth (although at times preachy) about the mess that this man has created in the White House, the nation and around the world with our allies.

After all, Michael Moore is a documentarian (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Roger and Me). He is now documenting Trump and all the lunacy that surrounds him. The evening is not all Trump-bashing; there are many amusing anecdotes from his youth where a majority of one (a shy Michael Moore) makes a difference. It is his stories that make the show memorable and it is best that he tells them himself. He also has tales of Flint, Michigan and the daily death threats he’s received ever since he won the Oscar for Bowling in Columbine and the speech he made that night at the Academy Awards. The man has many anecdotes to tell and they are very heartfelt. Michael Mayer, the director, must be given a lot of credit for pacing these tales and the passion of the man telling them.

If Trump has his “base”, it’s only fair that Michael Moore has his “base” as well and hopefully it will be a growing one. There is even a plea for him to run for president in 2020. One can only hope.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published August 17, 2017
Reviewed at August 16, 2017 press performance.

‘THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER’: Michael Moore. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER’: Michael Moore. Photo: Joan Marcus

The post Michael Moore’s ‘The Terms of My Surrender’ appeared first on StageZine.

OVAL OFFICE PARTY: The cast of ‘Clinton The Musical.’ Photo: Russ Rowland

CLINTON THE MUSICAL
Book by Paul Hodge & Michael Hodge
Music & lyrics by Paul Hodge
Directed & choreographed by Dan Knechtges
New World Stages
340 West 50th Street
212-239-6200
http://clintonthemusical.com/

By Scott Harrah

Some would say former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton are long overdue for an Off-Broadway political satire, and it’s certainly the right time for this scathingly funny show by Australian brothers Paul and Michael Hodge. In roughly 95 minutes, the musical tells the entire Bill and Hillary Clinton saga. There is plenty of material that will get laughs from Republicans, Democrats and people of all political parties.

What’s most remarkable about Clinton the Musical is its objectivity (well, sort of) because audiences never know which side the show is on, but we know most of what we’re seeing is sophomoric and hysterical simultaneously. The simple fact that the play’s creators aren’t Americans gives the narrative an unbiased, incisive edge as we see the people from both political parties that made the Clinton Administration and Republicans in Congress in the 1990s so infamous.

The former president from Arkansas is portrayed, literally and figuratively, as two different men: There is WJ Clinton (Tom Galantich), the serious, charismatic leader of the free world; and Billy Clinton (Duke Lafoon), the sex-crazed, fast-food-eating bad boy (often nibbling on McDonald’s fries). Watching President Clinton and his misbehaving alter ego is fun indeed. Mr. Galantich and Mr. Lafoon’s give solid performances as Bill Clinton and his sleazy doppelganger, but both could have been more over-the-top because there is so much to parody about “Bubba.”.

All the key players, from Hillary Clinton (Broadway veteran Kerry Butler) to Monica Lewisnky (Veronica J. Kuehn) to Newt Gingrich (John Treacy Egan) to Linda Tripp (Judy Gold) and Kenneth Starr (Kevin Zak), are here. Al Gore is portrayed by a cardboard cutout. Ms. Butler has all of Hillary’s mannerisms down well and has a pleasant singing voice, and she’s especially potent when delivering timely bon mots about Hillary’s e-mail, but a few of the supporting performances are actually more satisfying.

The songs, ranging from “Lie to You” to “That Woman Miss Lewinsky,” have their moments (and the lyrics are too raunchy to quote). Although the obvious jokes wear thin quickly, it’s all in good fun.

Mr. Zak, as “special prosecutor” Kenneth Starr, is depicted here as a bitchy gay man. Just try to keep from laughing as he jumps across the stage, clad in a leather harness and see-through undies, making Bob Fosse-style Chicago moves in his rousing, ultra-campy solo number “A Starr is Born.” Mr. Egan’s Newt Gingrich is a whiny, ineffectual buffoon who, like Billy Clinton, always craves junk food. Both Mr. Zak and Mr. Egan portray gleefully grotesque caricatures of two villains in the Clinton Administration soap opera.

Comedienne Judy Gold is a delight when playing Monica’s “friend” Linda Tripp, the conniving, devious woman who helped uncover the whole Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. However, she’s less effective in numerous scenes as Eleanor Roosevelt (Hillary’s idol), delivering epigrams about women, power and duty to one’s country that become rather hit and miss by the second act.

All the iconic highlights of the Clinton presidency—from Paula Jones and the Whitewater scandal to the failed attempt to impeach him, and the rabid manner in which things were chronicled by the news media—breeze by with cheeky zeal under Dan Knechtges’ fluid direction.

Hillary Clinton had not officially announced her candidacy for the 2016 presidential race as of press time, and this show won’t win her any points from undecided “swing” voters. So, is the show simply capitalizing on the Republicans who want to dig up every bit of old dirt about Bill and Hillary? Not really. Political satire can be many things, but it is never supposed to be nice. Both Democrats and Republicans are given “equal time” in terms of mockery. No matter which side you’re on, Clinton The Musical will get your vote as one of the spring’s best spoofs of Washington politics.

LINDA TRIPP & MONICA LEWINSKY: Judy Gold & Veronica J. Kuehn. Photo: Russ Rowland

NEWT GINGRICH & KENNETH STARR: John Treachy Egan & Kevin Zak. Photo: Russ Rowland

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 9, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on April 5, 2015

The post ‘Clinton The Musical’ Spoofs Bill, Hillary & Co. appeared first on StageZine.