In these trying times (do I sound like a politician yet?), we could all use a good laugh. Broadway isn’t always hospitable to farces, not since The Play That Goes Wrong opened in 2017 has there been a pure comedy of excellence, until now. POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive is open for the summer at the Shubert Theatre and delivering laughs.
POTUS shows us a chaotic day in the life of seven women in the White House, surrounding an unseen and completely incompetent President of the United States. They include his First Lady, Chief of Staff, Press Secretary, personal secretary, sister, mistress, and a reporter. The day starts out with his staff trying to clean up the mess he made by using one of the few words universally unacceptable in public, and it only goes downhill from there. If you’ve seen Veep, imagine the mayhem of a Selina Meyer White House but with a slightly more competent staff and a slightly less competent President. While the plot does snowball into pure absurdity, the outrageous humor that comes along allows you to freely disregard realism.
The cast of names you may know includes seven hysterical women all at the top of their game, there isn’t a weak link. Vanessa Williams plays Margaret, the remarkably accomplished First Lady who tries to keep her cool as she learns of her husband’s infidelity. Williams brings the poise needed to anchor the show. Julie White plays Harriet, the Chief of Staff, with a manic exasperation trying to hold everything together. Suzy Nakamura plays Jean, the Press Secretary trying to put a positive spin on everything while being surrounded by negativity. Nakamura has been a successful character actress for years, seen in screen hits like Dodgeball, Modern Family, Dead To Me, and others, but she fully shines in this performance; her comic timing is perfect. Lilli Cooper plays Chris, a frantic reporter in the White House trying to get a career-defining scoop while managing her home life at the same time. Julianne Hough makes her Broadway debut playing Dusty, a naïve yet resourceful young woman from Iowa who the President had an affair with. Hough is mostly known as a dancer, but she’s a brilliant comic actress. She plays ditzy but with depth, even hilariously doing lip warmups before her character is meant to perform a sex act off stage. Lea DeLaria plays Bernadette, the President’s criminal sister trying to receive a pardon even while actively committing crimes. And finally there’s Rachel Dratch as Stephanie, the President’s secretary. She starts off shy and mousy like what many have seen from her on Saturday Night Live and other properties, but when her character accidentally ingests an unknown drug, things go off the rails in the best way. Dratch is the court jester of the bunch, and in her Broadway debut, she proves she was made for the stage. Her gift of physical comedy is top notch and she plays brilliantly to the whole theater.
The company combines for some hilarious dialogue written by 28-year-old Selina Fillinger, bursting onto the Broadway scene with a bright future. They’re directed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman, who keeps the pace of this play remarkably tight. There isn’t a single scene that feels like it’s dragging or unnecessary. Beowulf Boritt is the scenic designer, creating a rotating set that encompasses the entire West Wing. POTUS is a limited engagement only open until August 14th. A cast this well-rounded and hysterical is rare and shouldn’t be missed. If you haven’t belly laughed in a while, this is the play to see.