“If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure…”

This evening we returned to the theatre, specifically to the NoHo Arts Center (MySpace) to see “Bush Is Bad: The Musical”. This is an interesting musical. It really doesn’t have a coherent plot or direction (much like the Bush administration). There is no story to be told (much like the current administration). In fact its unifying theme is a dislike of the current administration (much in the same way the president is uniting the country… in wishing they had elected someone else).

“Bush is Bad”, simply put, is a musical: a collection of songs written to make fun of the current administration (which admittedly isn’t hard to do, but I am pleased that we can still do it). Such musicals rise and fall on the strength of the writing and on the strength of the cast. We’ll cover the cast shortly… what about the music. One can get a taste of that from a listing of the musical numbers (listen to some of the songs):

How Can 59 Million People Be So Dumb? Anyone Can Grow Up To Be President Good Conservative Values Crazy Ann COulter Mr. Whittington Regrets Torture Has Been Very Good To Me Down in Crawford Fair and Balanced Our Job Won’t You Please Das Bush Ist Schlecht The Gay Agenda

Social Security Performance Art You Can Never Have Enough Bush Uniter, Not A Divider Get Real Culture of Life Scooter Libby, Superstar Heck of a Job Can’t Help Lovin’ That Bush Sure, You Betcha, George In His Own Words Wake Me When It’s 2009

If you click here, you can see some scenes from the New York Production. It does appear a CD is available.

These numbers serve to skewer a wide variety of topics, people, and positions… from the president himself, to Condi, to Cheny, to Scooter Libby (in a wonderful parody of Jesus Christ Superstar), to Ann Coulter, to Fox News, to Gonzalez, to Rummy. They skewer typical actions, such as the tendance of the president to praise failures for their good jobs, his going on vacation, his misspeaking… and all sorts of conservative positions. The songs were all well written and got their message across with the subtlety of a Viking war hammer. In short: If you would attend a musical with the title “Bush Is Bad”, you would like the songs. The musical’s website even gives more links on how bad Bush is.

What about the cast? The cast consisted of very strong performers and singers, whom you can see in the image to the right (pictured are, L to R, Michael Lavine, Gerry Mullins, Mai Thompson-Heath, Melanie Ewbank, Sabrina Miller, Michael Craig Shapiro, Roger Ainslie, Stefanie Black, and Jonathan Zenz). You can find even more pictures here. The performers consisted of : Roger Ainslie (who did a mean Bush impersonation), Stefanie Black^*, Melanie Ewbank^*, Michael Lavine (Musical Director), Sabrina Miller, Gerry Mullins, Mai Thompson-Heath, Michael Craig Shapiro^*, and Jonathan Zenz. They were all fun to watch perform (especially the ladies, as three out of the four were zaftig, and all were quite beautiful). Ainslie, as noted above, did a great Bush impersonation, and Thompson-Heath was great as Condi.
[^* indicates Actors Equity Members]

On the technical side, the set was relatively basic (which is common for a revue). Music consisted of a single piano, on stage. Costumes were a problem, especially for the zaftig ladies–specifically, they were too tight, and in my opinion, a little too short (i.e., I spent too much time enjoying the scenery). But the tightness was the real problem, for often they showed either how they were constructed or what was under the costume. I should note that, except for a few pieces in specific scenes, the costumes consisted of black business suits for the guys, and black slinky short dresses for the ladies. The specific technical credits were: Jay Willick (Director), Joshua Rosenblum (Composer/Lyricist/Creator), Michael Lavine (Music Director), Luke Moyer (Lighting Design), David Matwijkow (Costume Design), Jonathan Zenz (Sound Design), with Curtis C as Assistant Director and Production Stage Manager.

If you want a musical that makes fun of Shrub, “Bush is Bad” is worth going to. However, if you want something even more fun, or for additional fun, go see “The Beastly Bombing” at the Steve Allen Theatre. It is currently on hiatus, but will be back in June. “Bush is Bad” appears to be running until the end of June.

A Dining P.S.: I must also recommend the place we found for dinner before the show: Miss Peaches Southern Cuisine at 5643 Lankershim Blvd., just above Burbank. Yummy, yummy southern cuisine. We’ll be going back there the next time we go to NoHo.

So what’s next on our theatre calendar? For May, I’m still looking for tickets to “Driving Miss Daisy” at REP East to show up on Goldstar [Update: Now ticketed for 5/26 @ 8:00p]. We’ll also be attending “The Wizard of Oz and Then Some” at Nobel Middle School in Northridge on 5/31 @ 6:30p, 6/1 @ 6:30p, and 6/2 @ 2p and 6:30p (contact me for tickets). Currently ticketed theatre starts back up in June, with “The Constant Wife” at The Pasadena Playhouse on 6/2 @ 8pm; “Side Show” at UCLA Theatre Arts on 6/9 @ 8pm; “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” through Broadway/LA on 6/16 @ 2pm. We’re on vacation the end of June in Nashville, and when we return, it is “Jersey Boys” at the Ahmanson Theatre on 7/15 @ 7:30pm; “Can-Can” at The Pasadena Playhouse on 7/28 at 8:00pm; “Beauty and the Beast” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on 8/4 @ 2:00pm, and the DCI 2007 World Championship Finals in Pasadena on 8/11 @ 5:00pm . I’ve also ordered season tickets for the Ahmanson, as discussed here, and there’s likely to be a Hollywood Bowl show in there somewhere.