Now playing a limited Off-Broadway engagement at the Daryl Roth Theatre (following critically acclaimed sold-out runs in LA and Chicago), the new award-winning political parody 44 – The Musical, with book, music, and lyrics by Eli Bauman (a former Obama campaign staffer in Las Vegas), takes a wacky, irreverent, satirical look at the election and first term of our 44th President through zany original songs and dance, hilariously lampooned real-life characters, and “the kinda sorta truth” as the hazy forgetful mind of Joe Biden (Obama’s two-term Vice President from 2009-17) remembers it.
Directed by Bauman (who also did a pre-show introduction, welcoming the audience to at least two hours of joy and escapism from the mess of the outside world), an absolutely hilarious cast of eleven triple threats – T.J. Wilkins as Barack Obama, Shanice as Michelle Obama, Chad Doreck as Joe Biden, Jenna Pastuszek as Hillary Clinton, Larry Cedar as Mitch McConnell, Jeff Sumner as Lindsey Graham, Michael Uribes as Ted Cruz, Summer Collins as Sarah Palin, Dino Shorté as Herman Cain, Summer Nicole Greer as Voice of the People (a vintage image of the iconic WWII working woman come to life), and Evan Tyrone Martin as Brother Abe Lincoln – moves actively around and off the stage and through the audience, delivering the laugh-out-loud political absurdities with full-out zest, across-the-board stellar vocals, and sidesplitting portrayals of the all-too recognizable caricatured figures battling for control or trying desperately to do the right thing in the face of angry, uncompromising, and often wildly illogical opposition (e.g., solving the problem of mass shootings, not with gun control legislation, but by putting armed guards, and thereby more guns, in our schools).
The roster of parodied politicos performs 24 blockbuster musical numbers inspired by the popular song and dance styles of the period, from our first Black President declaring there are no “Red States Blue States,” just the United States, with a rousing trio of Gospel singers, then questioning “How Black Is Too Black?” with smooth Motown soul, moves, and back-up harmonies; the strong and self-assured First Lady supporting her husband and joining him in the romantic ballads “White House Love” and “No Matter What;” Hillary positing with resentment (and nail-on-the-head insight) in “My Turn” that she’d be the first female president if America wasn’t so “X chromosomophobic” (one of Bauman’s most clever word plays, which I will never stop quoting); and the three of them wondering “What Would Liam Neeson Do?” in snippets of reimagined scenes from the screen; to Palin (a supporter of off-shore and on-land oil drilling in the preserved and protected Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) doing a striptease and pole dance while belting out “Drill Me Baby” like a rock star; and McConnell and Cruz, supported by Graham, going uncharacteristically hip-hop in “Filibusters,” to block the vote on a key piece of legislation by rapping the entire Dr. Seuss book of Green Eggs and Ham.
Accompanied by the LA-based band House of Vibe, here called “The Andrew Jackson Five” (with music director Anthony “Brew” Brewster and Greg Raymond on keyboards, Phillip “Fish” Fisher on drums, Corey Cofield on bass, and Conrad Bauer on guitar), seen rocking atop the upstage wall, each song (with music supervision by Wilkie Ferguson III) is chockful of over-the-top sardonic wit and razor-sharp characterizations, riotously funny and perfectly suited choreography (by Miss James Alsop), and vibrant theatricality, enhanced with clear sound (by Jonathan A. Burke), red, white, and blue lighting and tonal mood shifts from bright to dark (lighting by Nathan W. Scheuer and Natali Arco), and an eye-popping array of defining costumes (by Matthew Hemesath) matched to the distinctive musical stylings (seeing Palin in her skivvies and McConnell and Cruz in hip-hop attire and accessories is completely unexpected and among the funniest segments of the show).
There are other sidesplitting scenes of multi-millionaire businessman and Republican Tea Party advocate Cain appearing on Fox News (here called Faux News), if only for the money; of Cain and Palin invited to meetings of W.H.A.M. (White Hetero Affluent Men) as tokens; the purportedly closeted Graham, who opposed LGBTQ+ rights, prancing around with a lacy parasol and cooling himself with a hand fan; the recurrent use of the profane street jargon “mother*cker” in the dialogue and the song lyrics (“MFO”), as a compliment to the impressively formidable Obama; and Abe Lincoln, seen in a portrait on the left wall of the interior room of the White House (set by Julio Himede, with graphic and video design, by Mike Emerson, of figures and events from the period), emerging from the opening back wall as a Black man, affirming his race with a knockout one-liner about his top hat, and singing “Brother Abe Lincoln” with Obama.
The production also addresses Obama’s reaction to some serious pressing issues, including his devastation over the deaths of innocent children in the aforementioned school shootings that occurred under his administration, singing a soft and emotionally affecting “Amazing Grace” with the Voice of the People, and ruminating over continuing his presidency for a second term, with Michelle telling him to stay firm and “Get It Together.” It’s all tied together by the narration and commentary of a physically and mentally wobbling Biden, played with masterful comic timing by Doreck.
If this week’s highly contentious election and the general state of politics in America have you down, you can revisit the rise and times of our 44th President through a lens of parodic laughs and songs, and nostalgia for true heartfelt concern for our people and respect for the office, in 44 – The Musical.
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 15 minutes, including an intermission.
44 – The Musical plays through December 7, 2025, at the Daryl Roth Theatre, 101 E 15th Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $81-182.50, including fees), go online, or find discount tickets at TodayTix.
