44, THE MUSICAL

Just when we normal folk are missing 44th President Barack Obama more than ever, this comic musical about his presidency has returned to LA to remind us of what we had back then.

After my gushing review of this show a few years ago, I didn’t think there was anything left to say about it. But I was sooo wrong. This is the new and improved version of what I saw back in November 2022; I absolutely loved it then, and this one is even better.

I’ll tell you about the super-fun opening night in a few minutes, but the script, music, and performances in 44: The Musical are in need of immediate praise, so I’m getting to those right away.

First and foremost is the absolutely amazing job done by the writer, director, and composer, who are all just one guy—Eli Bauman. What he’s done is downright mind-boggling. (Although I do have to ask him how he was able to set the song Herman Cain to the tune of Prince’s Purple Rain, which is just a brilliant thing to do!) [Note: In some parts of this review, I’ll be comparing a performer or some other aspect of the show to the rendition that I saw two and a half years ago, but they’re all simply improvements on something that I thought was already at 100% all those years ago. I told Eli after the show that I thought some of it had changed a bit since then, and he gave me a definitive, “A lot has changed! You’re not crazy.” I explained to him that I am indeed crazy, in general, but it was good to know that I wasn’t imagining things in this instance.]

44, The Musical has little dialogue; therefore it’s comprised of all songs written by just Eli! (I think twenty-five of them.) Besides that every single one of them is really good, they’re especially impressive because they include several different genres, (such as R&B, pop, hip-hop, soul, comedy, ballads, and even a rap or two!) Mr. X said that some of them even have “a Broadway vibe.” The friend who came with me last time is still singing our favorite tune, (which opens the show,) M.F.O., over two years later! I can understand his obsession with it because I haven’t stopped hearing it in my head since the opening on Thursday night.

The cast is made-up of eleven actors who are all excellent, so, for perhaps the first time ever, I have to laud them all.

As Mr. X noted, T. J. Wilkins, as Obama, really carries the show. I love TJ. Always have since I first saw him on The Voice, (when I used to watch that show.) And now he’s a slimmed-down, bit more grown-up, and still beautiful T.J. But I had no idea that he’s such a great dancer! He’s the complete package of singer, dancer, actor, beauty, tallness, and niceness. He may soon out-Obama Obama!

The revelation for me this time is Chad Doreck as Joe Biden. I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t remember him from last time, (although I discovered later that I had given him the only good review in a play five years earlier!,) but he had me in stitches this time! I thought I’d need oxygen from laughing so hard at just about everything he did. Luckily for him and the audience, there’s so much more about Biden for him to work with these three years later. And Chad made the most of every second he was on stage; he added so many little nuances to each moment. Mr. X said that he’s “Biden plus!” I honestly did not think that anyone but Dana Carvey could be so hilarious as Biden, but I was wrong. And Chad does the portrayal in a more human, less-caricature way, which I really appreciate.

Everyone in the cast sings great and is so gifted, but in the voice department, Summer Nicole Greer as “Voice of the People,” wows from the get-go. She starts the show off with her incredible voice, which gets everybody cheering and screaming right away. I have a feeling that’s why she’s in the show to begin with because she doesn’t play a real character; she just basically comes on and sings the roof off every now and then.

Speaking of great voices, veteran recording artist Shanice plays Michelle Obama, and she sure can wail, as well. It’s fabulous to hear her live. She was very popular with the opening night audience, many of whom have most likely followed her career, and were thrilled to see her in this show.

And Larry Cedar, as a rapping Mitch McConnell, is a laugh riot. Having seen the show before, I was aware of how good Larry is in this, but, because Mr. X and Larry had known each other back in the day when they worked together on a couple of TV projects, I was excited for him to see Larry in 44. And, of course, he was amazed. He told me that Larry is “athletic and daring in his dance moves,” which is such a compliment from my krump dancer bae.

As for the rest of the talented cast, Marquel Edward Clayton is a surprise and hysterical Abe Lincoln, whose number I loved. And the bravest one, to me, is Jane Papageorge, who, as Sarah Palin, not only sings, but pole dances! Jenna Pastuszek is an energetic and very amusing Hillary Clinton, Dino Shorté is a spot-on Herman Cain, and Michael Uribes is a comical Ted Cruz. I’ve somehow missed knowing much about real-life Lindsey Graham, so I can’t judge Jeff Summer’s portrayal of him, but he does amusing double-duty as a female eatery patron.

There are only two critical comments I have about the entire presentation. The first is that I felt that the narrative does get a tiny tad bogged-down in the second act, but stage veteran Mr. X said that “it does not sag,” and that he “would have to think hard about what trims should be made.” So I would listen to him over yours truly!

The other is that while I adored the creative placement, (upstairs and on both sides of the audience,) of the hip and happening band, (who played great music just about non-stop!,) there was something weird about the sound system: a friend and I were sitting on opposite aisles in one of the top rows, and he thought the music itself was too low, while Mr. X and I thought it was too loud. We wanted the actual music to be toned down a bit so we could better hear all the very clever lyrics. I don’t have any suggestions of how to fix that issue, though.

But I am happy that they took my suggestion from my previous review in 2022, and now have an intermission. The audience really needs that break to sing the praises of the first half! On opening night, there was a festive buzz that entire time.

On top of that little improvement, this version has sooo much better production values than last time. There’s an actual set! That’s a small thing, because the humor and music are the stars of 44: The Musical, but good visuals definitely help any presentation.

Now, in addition to the absolutely fantastic production, this was the most spectacular Opening Night! They should all be like this. There was generous catered food both before and after the show, an open bar all night, (even at intermission!,) and a cool cap with the “44” logo was placed at every seat! There were also brief, amusing, and enlightening speeches from the producers before the curtain and after it, as well, the latter of which was actually accompanied by cool background music. I loved it all. In all my years of being an opening night-er, I don’t remember any as fun as this one.

And now it’s your turn to get in on the fun, but for only a few more weeks. Everyone needs to see 44: The Musical ASAP before what I predict will happen—it will move to Broadway. Or at least off-Broadway. And there’s good news about your ticket purchase—a percent of the sales will go to charitable organizations.

So get to the Douglas soon. Republicans need not apply.

44: The Musical running through March 23, 2025
Kirk Douglas Theatre  9820 Washington Blvd.  Culver City
www.44theobamamusical.com