Mr. President (musical)
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| Mr. President | |
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| Original Cast Recording | |
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| Music | Irving Berlin |
| Lyrics | Irving Berlin |
| Book | Howard Lindsay Russel Crouse |
| Productions | 1962 Broadway |
Mr. President is a musical with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and lyrics and music by Irving Berlin.
It focuses on U.S. President Stephen Decatur Henderson, who loses his bid for re-election following a disastrous trip to the Soviet Union. Bored with life as a civilian, he decides to return to political life as a Senator.
After four previews, the Broadway production, directed by Joshua Logan and choreographed by Peter Gennaro, opened on October 20, 1962 at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 265 performances. The cast included Robert Ryan, Nanette Fabray, Anita Gillette, and Baayork Lee.
In a season dominated by hits like Oliver!, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Stop the World - I Want to Get Off, critics found the show to be old-fashioned and the score missing the magic of earlier Berlin works. It received lukewarm reviews, was a commercial failure, and proved to be Berlin's last full-length musical.
The premiere was attended by President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie Kennedy. The first couple afterwards congradulated Berlin on a hit. Kennedy later sent his aides, Kenneth P. O'Donnell and David Powers, the two toppers in Kennedy's Irish Mafia, to apologise for the show's failure. [1]
In 1964, former President Harry S. Truman made an opening night cameo appearance in a production at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City. He left by ambulance at intermission due to an appendicitis attack [1].
In 2001, Gerard Alessandrini extensively revised the book and converted the plot into a spoof of the 2000 Presidential election debacle. After thirty previews, it opened on August 2, 2001 at the off-Broadway Douglas Fairbanks Theater where, hampered by reviews worse than those received by the original, it closed after ten performances.
[edit] Song list
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[edit] Awards and nominations
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Fabray, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Conductor and Musical Director (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Stage Technician (winner)
