During the Democratic National Convention — feels like a lifetime ago, I know — a spoof R&B musical about a goofy Joe Biden, snarky Michelle Obama, bitter Hilary Clinton, goth Mitch McConnell, oily Ted Cruz, Godfather Herman Cain, scary Sarah Palin, and above all, the king of cool, ‘cept we used to have no kings, Barack Hussein Obama showed up at the Epiphany Arts Center. Just a stone’s throw from the United Center, the locus of the last time Democrats were even close to happy.
As penned by Eli Bauman, this show about the 44th president of the United States was a total blast. Here was half a Second City-style sketch comedy, or would have been had Second City not forgotten how to poke fun at Democrats, and half a version of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner where everyone could hold pitch and actually time a joke. But the 11 cast members of “44” also vibed with the silvery, glam-night-out cool that is far more Chicago than D.C., massaging a faux-R&B score, joshing with a live band and creating a dressy, classy ambiance that was deliciously matched to the Obama hipster thing, thus making the show even more of a Gen X nostalgia trip.
More Top Picks Best Japanese Chopsticks
Well, “44 — The Musical” has survived a run in the wilderness known as Los Angeles and is now on its way to New York, and has returned to Sweet Home Chicago for a few precious autumnal weeks in the more suitable Studebaker Theater downtown. Its original cast is still there, too, led by the uber-smooth T.J. Wilkins, who I think will get a lot of attention once this show hits New York. Deservedly so. Not only does he look and move like his man, he sings in a way that the hoops-loving 44 could only dream of doing and evidences just the right deadpan D.C. tone. Wilkins really offers a masterclass in the comedic merits of just slightly underplaying to make the jokes land.
For worried devotees of the politician who rose from Chicago community organizer to this city’s favorite son, know that “44” is a very affectionate tribute to all things Obamaland, although it’s also unafraid to depict Joe Biden as someone you really have to look after on a staircase. Indeed, narrator Biden is depicted by Chad Doreck (also hilarious) as an elderly Forest Gump reincarnated as a deer stuck in an endless succession of political headlights. The show is, of course, trading in familiar stereotypes for all its real-life characters, but there is something about its bespoke combination of the retro and the fresh. Well, apart from Uncle Joe.
“44 — The Musical” is also a rewind of the halcyon aughts, relatively speaking, and for the politically inclined, it’s a well-timed reminder of how, even as we watch this current president do whatever the heck he wants with close to zero pushback, Obama had all kinds of wackadoodles in his way. The show even has the guts to bring up the Sandy Hook horror and depict its hero’s moment of realization that there was, in practice, all too little he could do.
But that’s just a moving moment within a show fully devoted to laughs. Songs, all funny and sticky for the brain, include the catchy title number, “(Expletive) Obama,” as sung by the inner circle, “How Black is too Black?” (a perennial question for the Obama campaign and presidency), “It’s Cain Time” (sung, deep dish Barry White-style by the deadpan Dino Shorté) and other delights.
The first time around, I suggest Bauman find the guts to cut his weakest 10 minutes, ideally in the first half of the second act, when the show threatens to disappear down the gravelly throat of Larry Cedar’s Mitch McConnell, et al. Based on what I saw Thursday night, he has taken that advice not at all, but, like the ubiquitous dear leader, I don’t give up that easily. Dude, no one wants to watch a 150-minute satire in 2025. Kill the weaker weeds so the stronger shoots survive! (Hardly an Obama sentiment, I know, but this is comedy theater, not Pennsylvania Avenue.) As the Great One famously said: Be the change you seek.
I’d add this time that I don’t think the show quite yet has madam Michelle down (she’s very tricky to poke fun at because she is so sophisticated a cultural player), notwithstanding a bravura vocal performance from Shanice.
Still, those are minor quibbles; “44” is absolutely the funniest show on offer in Chicago right now. Long may it, and the one it heralds, thrive. And if the Obama Presidential Center people don’t have their opening night entertainment set yet, well, it is staring them in the face at the Studebaker. Both the real 44 and Michelle once could be found at Second City, and I am an eyewitness. Both were (are?) very capable of laughing at themselves.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
Review: “44 — The Musical” (3.5 stars)
When: Through Sept. 21
Where: Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets:: $44-$129 at 44theobamamusical.com