...Are there any Republicans in the arts?

[Parks]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:25pm

I went to see Avenue Q a week ago-and in the line "GEORGE BUSH is only for now," it hit me that I was probably THE only Republican in the theater. I did laugh with everyone else-but not about that line. There was a like 80-something year old woman who looked like she was going to have a heart-attack because she was clapping so hard-SPAZZING out.

Are there any people in the arts who voted for Bush this year? I'm not saying that I'm a Republican-in fact, some day I will probably vote for a Democrat (if I like their point of view better).

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:29pm

lol me...i don't mind making fun of him though..but I def voted for him

I felt the same way in the theatre *of course i heard the cd before*
also during DRS
"the Bushs of Tex were nervous recks because their son was dim **LOUD CHEERS LAUGHTER APPLAUSE** But Look what happened to him!"

I laugh...but feel slightly awkward

[kangaroo]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:29pm

Chenoweth
she was supposed to sing at the Inauguration of George Bush's second term, but apparently received threats and decided against it.

I think there are Republicans in the midst of the arts, but are a little more afraid to show themselves.

Well... here's one
I just want to say that I do not descriminate against people. Being a different race myself, I know what it's like to have people judge you for the way you are... so I try to stay open, but I am a conservative.

~Kangaroo

[superperson]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:33pm

I feel like DRS and Q there were going for cheap laughs. I mean, it's not even clever, they're dumb rhymes.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:33pm

Well, in reference to the Avenue Q things..I think there are plenty of Repubs who are for Bush but still don't mind a little humor. They could say things MUCH worse.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:35pm

<----

And DRS' was much funnier than AQ...

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:35pm

I hold some conservative views, but I would label myself a liberal/Democrat. And I think that Dubya gives many Republicans a bad name.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:38pm

<========

[riv]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:47pm

There was only that one line from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I saw it coming from a mile away. By the time Lithgow got up to the Borgias I said to myself "This number's going to end with a reference to Bush." Bingo! It was no big deal.

Now, the embarrassing show as far as I was concerned was Nathan Lane's pious bull in The Frogs. Talk about being as subtle as a sledgehammer.

And what about Michael Mulheren as a Rush Limbaugh look-alike in the La Cage revival. I bet Jerry Zaks thought that was a witty touch.

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 09:47 PM

[thirdrowcenter]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 9:51pm

I vote independently. I'm still a registered Democrat but as per Ronald Reagan, "I did not leave the Democratic party, the Democratic party left me." I voted for George Bush.
I love the theatre and I try and see as many shows as I can. I find it irritating when I am a captive audience and nasty things are said about the President. When I saw Beckett/Albee the audience was treated to an anti Republican speech during a Broadway Cares appeal for donations. I was astounded and actually surprised that the audience remained silent and didn't burst out in wild supportive applause.

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 10:05pm

Hi Parks. This is an interesting thread that you started being I have wondered this many times myself. Am I republician? Yes. Did I vote for Bush? Yes. It's wierd. I know it was the unpopular vote on Broadway...being Broadway shows and entertainers are very left wing. However I'm not a diehard Republican...if someone on the Democratic ticket can offer something better, I diffently will vote that way.

I believe it takes a lot of guts to make known right sided political views/ideas in this(theater) community.

But then I again, lately I've been conflicted. Growing up in a Christian home, I walked away from the faith. Nowadays I feel myself "coming around" and reconciling a bit to my up-bringing (conservate manners and such).
For more on that see by blog.

Anyway, interesting thought you provoked. I'm intimidated sometimes to really write what I think.

Adam

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 10:18pm

I live in a state where all you do is register to vote. You are not affiliated with any party. I've voted for both Republicans and Democrats, over the years. I voted for Bush in the last election, and I would have loved to have had a better choice than Kerry. I could have been so easily swayed; but not by Kerry. So, no, I'm not a Republican; but I'm not a Democrat, either.

Updated On: 3/14/05 at 10:18 PM

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 10:19pm

Oh, and while I'm republican, I wouldn't have voted for Bush in a million years.

[mattvcrewse]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 10:46pm

Kelsey Grammar is a Rep.

It's permissible, but almost completely tasteless to include shots at political leaders such as a president in a show. And as far as fundraisers/etc., making a political statement like the anti-republican speech have no place in asking for donations. What do politics have to do with it anyway? I'm sure Republicans are not against raising money, so why do we need an anti-them speech? Some people don't know where to draw the line. Whatever happened to theatre as purely entertainment?

GARR!!!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:11pm

mattv, very well said.

I get tired of all the Bush bashing I hear. Even my favorite tv shows have been doing it. Sadly, I've really begun to give up on Broadway because I don't want to hear it. I go for entertainment.

Additionally, when shows put these cheap shots in, it really dates the show. In 30 years, when Encores does a revival of DRS, the Bush references won't make much sense.

[cvapb]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:16pm

I am Republican!

[thirdrowcenter]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:16pm

I don't know if it's true but I heard Billy Crystal somehow works Bush into 700 Sundays. I won't go there.

[robbiej]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:19pm

'Whatever happened to theatre as purely entertainment?'

It never existed. Though there CAN be theatre purely for entertainment, there has been political theatre since the days of the Greek and Roman playwrights.

There are people that will argue that all art is political. Politics, in the end, is just a belief system. Art, in the end, is an expression of an individual's belief system. Hence, the concept that all art is political.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:23pm

There is a rich and well-ensconced tradition of anti-fascism, liberalism and Republican-bashing in New York theater and Broadway shows dating from the 1930s onwards. This was further nurtured by the WPA, FDR's extraordinary government sponsorship of the arts from 1933 to 1943, which enabled artists of all types -painters, photographers, writers, actors, dancers - to survive and prosper.

I'm delighted to see this great anti-GOP Broadway tradition is alive and thriving.


the WPA

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 11:23 PM

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:25pm

While I'm quite sure Bush bashing is excessive, I'd bet that during the Clinton scandal, the potshots were pretty prevalent as well.

[vbplayer]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:26pm

And I suppose if Kerry or any other candidate had won, There would be no jokes about them. Please. Noone is singling out Bush, he's the President. To comedians, that means "fair game".

[Chlydomnestra]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:30pm

Well let me start out by saying, although I traditionally have voted republican...I am not opposed to voting for a democrat. It all depends on how the candidate lines up with my own beliefs, in fact, I voted democrat for my states current governor. I was a theatre major in college and I experienced some alienation as a "republican," which I find extremely odd since democrats pride themselves on their stances of equality, freedom of choice, and being non-judgemental.
However, I have always known that theatre and entertainment are historically liberal, and I refuse to let that stop me from enjoying that part of life. You have to have a sense of humor in these things, and Avenue Q said a beautiful thing..."George Bush is only for now," and although I voted for Bush, I know that the true beauty of the American Government is that it can be changed and there's no sense in pouting about it. I would never judge people and I hope for that same respect in return.
As far as Republicans in the arts...Shannen Doherty, Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, Dean Cain, Charleton Heston, Kurt Russell, Adam Baldwin, Pat Sajak, Patricia Heaton, Tony Danza, Heather Locklear, Reba McIntire, Wayne Newton, Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, Shirley Temple Black, and a series of country music stars, and dead movie stars. Perhaps one of the most interesting is Cecil B. DeMille. Keep in mind, not all of these people are registered republicans, but they have at some point been associated with the party or have referred to themselves as such...or conservative.
See...you aren't alone, but it's hard to say it out loud in the industry.

[mattvcrewse]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:47pm

Type_A_Tiff:

Very true and very fair of you to mention that.

RobbieJ:

Please explain to me the political insight to FORUM... and explain to me how vaudeville is politically-driven...
Hello, Dolly!
The Miracle Worker
A Chorus Line
Sweeney Todd
Where's Charley?
Crazy For You
City of Angels
Gypsy
Of Thee I Sing! (JUST KIDDING)
The Man Who Came To Dinner
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Odd Couple
Grease
Steel Magnolias
Cats
Romeo and Juliet
West Side Story
Singing In the Rain
Girl Crazy
The Importance of Being Ernest
Ziegfeld Follies

Are you forgetting t 1910-1940? REVUES ARE MENT SOLEY FOR ENTERTAINMENT. Any Boy Meets Girl story is entertainment. Theatre may make some statement about love, men/women, etc., but they don't have to beat the audience in the face with a moral lesson. Theatre for entertainment has existed just as long as political theatre. People have sought entertainment FOREVER. To say it never existed is ridiculous.

[mattvcrewse]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:48pm

True that leaders are fair game to comedians, but dragging politics into a fundraiser is another matter. Updated On: 3/13/05 at 11:48 PM

[fosse2004]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 11:48pm

Isn't "Bush bashing" and "Republican bashing" what America is all about though? I mean, America is "the land of the free", where we have our freedom of speech rights and so many other great rights. These rights many great men have lost their lives for and many other great men have sacrificed so much. And here on this thread we have people saying they won't go see a show (700 Sundays) because they bash Bush or they are sick of it saying "what has happened to good old entertainment." I am sorry...but I feel this is as anti-American as a person can be. I am not saying that it is the best thing to do to bash Bush (altough I don't mind at all). I am saying that it is out right as American citizens to exercise out rights that have been preserved for us. Why should we let these rights go to waste. This is why bringing political bashings into the theater is so great. Our rights are being put to use and displayed for thousands of theatergoers to see, no matter what their political beliefs.