Mr. President is a
musicalMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by
Howard LindsayHoward Lindsay was an American theatrical producer, playwright, librettist, director and actor. He is best known for his writing work as part of the collaboration of Lindsay and Crouse, and for his performance, with his wife Dorothy Stickney, in the long-running play Life with...
and
Russel CrouseRussel Crouse was an American playwright and librettist, best known for his work in the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse.-Biography:...
and lyrics and music by
Irving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
.
It focuses on
U.S. PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Stephen Decatur Henderson, who loses his bid for re-election following a disastrous trip to the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. Bored with life as a
civilianA civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces. The term is also often used colloquially to refer to people who are not members of a particular profession or occupation, especially by law enforcement agencies, which often use...
, he decides to return to
politicalPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
life as a
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
.
After four previews, the
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
production, directed by
Joshua LoganJoshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas. His father died when Logan was only three, and his mother remarried six years later. He was reared in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish and the largest city in north...
and choreographed by
Peter GennaroPeter Gennaro was an American dancer and choreographer.-Biography:Gennaro was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of Make Mine Manhattan in 1948. He followed this with Kiss Me, Kate and Guys and Dolls...
, opened on October 20, 1962 at the
St. James TheatreThe St. James Theatre is located at 246 W. 44th St. Broadway, New York City, New York. It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi's restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger...
, where it ran for 265 performances.
Mr. President is a
musicalMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by
Howard LindsayHoward Lindsay was an American theatrical producer, playwright, librettist, director and actor. He is best known for his writing work as part of the collaboration of Lindsay and Crouse, and for his performance, with his wife Dorothy Stickney, in the long-running play Life with...
and
Russel CrouseRussel Crouse was an American playwright and librettist, best known for his work in the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse.-Biography:...
and lyrics and music by
Irving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
.
It focuses on
U.S. PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Stephen Decatur Henderson, who loses his bid for re-election following a disastrous trip to the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. Bored with life as a
civilianA civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces. The term is also often used colloquially to refer to people who are not members of a particular profession or occupation, especially by law enforcement agencies, which often use...
, he decides to return to
politicalPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
life as a
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
.
After four previews, the
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
production, directed by
Joshua LoganJoshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas. His father died when Logan was only three, and his mother remarried six years later. He was reared in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish and the largest city in north...
and choreographed by
Peter GennaroPeter Gennaro was an American dancer and choreographer.-Biography:Gennaro was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of Make Mine Manhattan in 1948. He followed this with Kiss Me, Kate and Guys and Dolls...
, opened on October 20, 1962 at the
St. James TheatreThe St. James Theatre is located at 246 W. 44th St. Broadway, New York City, New York. It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi's restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger...
, where it ran for 265 performances. The cast included
Robert RyanRobert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.Ryan was born in Chicago, Illinois, the first child of Timothy Ryan and his wife Mabel Bushnell Ryan . He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1932, having held the school's heavyweight boxing title all...
,
Nanette FabrayNanette Fabray is an American film, television and musical theatre actress. She is the aunt of actress/singer Shelley Fabares.- Biography :...
,
Anita GilletteAnita Gillette is a Tony Award-nominated American actress, most notable for her work on Broadway and as a celebrity guest on various game shows....
, and
Baayork LeeBaayork Lee is an American actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and author.- Early Life and Career :Lee was born in New York City's Chinatown to an Indian mother and Chinese father. She started dancing at an early age, and she made her Broadway debut at the age of five as...
.
In a season dominated by hits like
Oliver!Oliver! is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
,
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
, and
Stop the World - I Want to Get OffStop the World - I Want to Get Off is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.Set against the backdrop of a circus, it focuses on Littlechap, whose first major step towards improving his lot is to marry Evie, his boss' daughter...
, critics found the show to be old-fashioned and the score missing the magic of earlier Berlin works. It received lukewarm reviews, ran a respectable 265 performances, and proved to be Berlin's last musical.
The out-of-town premiere at the
National TheatreThe National Theatre is located in Washington, D.C. and is a venue for a variety of live stage productions with seating for 1,676.Despite its name, it is not a governmentally funded national theatre, but operated by a private, non-profit organization....
in Washington, DC, was attended by
PresidentPresident is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and his wife Jackie Kennedy. The first couple afterward congratulated Berlin on a hit. Kennedy later sent his aides, Kenneth P. O'Donnell and
David PowersDavid Francis Powers was Special Assistant and assistant Appointments Secretary to President of the United States John F. Kennedy. Powers served as Museum Curator of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum from 1964 until his retirement in May 1994. Powers was a military veteran who had served in...
, the two toppers in Kennedy's "Irish Mafia," to apologize for his having to leave the performance early. (This day of Kennedy's presidency is the one featured in an exhibit at the JFK Museum and Library.)
In 1964, former President
Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
made an opening night cameo appearance in a production of the show at the
Starlight TheatreStarlight Theatre is a 7,947-seat outdoor theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, United States that stages touring Broadway shows and concerts.-History:...
in Kansas City. He left by ambulance at intermission due to an
appendicitisAppendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is a medical emergency. All cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of peritonitis and shock...
attack
http://www.kcstarlight.com/starlight2.aspx?pgID=938.
In 2001,
Gerard AlessandriniGerard Alessandrini is an American playwright, parodist, actor, and theatre director best known for creating the award-winning off-Broadway musical theatre parody revue Forbidden Broadway...
extensively revised the book and converted the plot into a
spoofSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
of the 2000 Presidential election debacle. After thirty previews, it opened on August 2 2001 at the
off-BroadwayOff Broadway theater is an umbrella term for a defined set of plays, musicals or revues performed in New York City. Originally referring to the location of a venue and its productions on a street intersecting Broadway in Manhattan's Theatre District, the hub of the theater industry in the United...
Douglas Fairbanks Theater where, hampered by reviews worse than those received by the original, it closed after ten performances.
Song list
Act I
- Let's Go Back to the Waltz
- In Our Hide-Away
- The First Lady
- Meat and Potatoes
- I've Got to Be Around
- The Secret Service
- It Gets Lonely in the White House
- Is He the Only Man in the World?
- They Love Me
- Pigtails and Freckles
- Don't Be Afraid of Romance
- Laugh It Up
- Empty Pockets Filled with Love
- In Our Hide-Away (Reprise)
Act II
- Glad to Be Home
- Laugh It Up (Reprise)
- You Need a Hobby
- Don't Be Afraid of Romance (Reprise)
- The Washington Twist
- Pigtails and Freckles (Reprise)
- The Only Dance I Know
- Meat and Potatoes (Reprise)
- Is He the Only Man in the World? (Reprise)
- I'm Gonna Get Him
- This Is a Great Country
- Finale
Awards and nominations
- Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and...
for Best Actress in a Musical (Fabray, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Conductor and Musical Director (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Stage Technician (winner)