POTUS starring Vanessa Williams, Julianne Hough, Rachel Dratch & More to Open This Spring

[bwayboy22]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:22pm

https://www.theatermania.com/broadway/news/potus-broadway-casting_93414.html

Susan Stroman will direct the Broadway premiere of Selina Fillinger's farce POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, beginning performances April 14 at the Shubert Theatre.

According to the New York Times, the cast will include Julianne Hough, Vanessa Williams, Rachel Dratch, Lea DeLaria, Lilli Cooper, Suzy Nakamura, and Julie White. Standbys are Anita Abdinezhad, Gisela Chípe, Jennifer Fouché and Lisa Helmi Johanson

Opening night is scheduled for May 9, with the run scheduled to conclude on August 14.

 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:26pm

I love Rachel Dratch! So happy for her 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:29pm

Rachel Dratch!!!!!!!!!!!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:31pm

Here's the NYT exclusive.

I love Williams, Dratch, Delaria, Cooper, and White. I don't really know the work of the other two.

That combo probably isn't enough to sell a sustainable number of tickets at the Shubert (especially with this opening after the Tony cutoff), but I'm personally interested in seeing these ladies in a new comedy.

$5.9 mil for a Broadway play tho?? <mind-exploding emoji>

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:32pm

Great cast. 

May I ask, given its May 9 opening night, will this be considered part of the 2021-22 or 2022-23 season? I feel inclined to say the latter because it will probably be after the Tony nominations will be announced. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:39pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I love Williams, Dratch, Delaria, Cooper, and White. I don't really know the work of the other two. "

Julianne Hough is a two-time "Dancing With the Stars" champion; her brother Derek has won it six times with various partners. This will be her Broadway debut. 

Suzy Nakamura plays Ken Jeong's wife on "Dr. Ken" and is also making her Main Stem debut.

 

Updated On: 3/1/22 at 12:39 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:43pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "May I ask, given its May 9 opening night, will this be considered part of the 2021-22 or 2022-23 season? I feel inclined to say the latter because it will probably be after the Tony nominations will be announced."

The NYT says 2022-2023, unless the Tonys change eligibility.

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:44pm

Lea Delaaria is a lesbian comic, singer and actress- and she is wonderful.

[bwayboy22]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 12:57pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Great cast.

May I ask, given its May 9 opening night, will this be considered part of the 2021-22 or 2022-23 season? I feel inclined to say the latter because it will probably be after the Tony nominations will be announced."

I was wondering the same thing...is there an official date for this years Tony’s yet or a cut off date for openings? Things could be pushed a little later since every other awards show has been happening later than usual this year.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 1:05pm

$6m for a play. I’d get excited that we are getting a big splashy production, but Thoughts on a Colored Man had a similar budget and that was pretty basic… 

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 1:07pm

This cast is gonna make me combust 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 1:34pm

It should be noted that while this is likely going to be the first official opening of the 2022-2023 Season, the Tony Awards have NOT announced any timeline for this year's eligibility cutoff or voting period (or a date for the ceremony). I'm sure they wanted to keep this close to the chest and not have any hard dates in case Covid necessitated a delay. So it theoretically COULD sneak into this season if eligibility dates are pushed back further than usual. But the fact that this production was initially searching for as early as March, yet is fine with a May opening, signals that they are not really concerned with awards season. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 2:08pm

The last Thursday in April is USUALLY the cutoff and shows have been gearing up with that in mind.

There hasn't been any indication that an extended deadline would be necessary tho, aside from this one play. If this were an event on the level of Hugh Jackman in MUSIC MAN that wanted to open on May 5, I could see the Tonys making an exception. But there's no reason for the Tonys to bend the rules for a play of this scale.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 2:15pm

Was it said what theater this is going to?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 2:18pm

^ The Shubert

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 2:26pm

Love everything about this- save for the premise described.

"the work centers on a PR nightmare that befalls the White House, with seven female support staff risking everything to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble"

Does this idea still hold up in spite of...everything? I'll go see it because that cast, but it'll be interesting to see if this is a believable conceit given the most recent four-year-stint.

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 2:36pm

The premise definitely sounds like something that was written during the Trump admin.

[TheaterMe]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 6:57pm

I see tickets available on TeleCharge.  I don't get how they decide which seats to make available.  Only one day, May 11, in the week we will be seeing shows is there a good selection of reasonably priced seats.   Every other day has the same set of seats available but not all of them.  Just weird.  Almost like they are trying to sell the iffy seats and maybe testing out the waters of how much to charge before they make all the good (i.e. expensive) seats available.  I am always trying to get the best seat at a reasonable price.  This method makes that hard when not all seats are made available at the same time. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 10:56pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I love Williams, Dratch, Delaria, Cooper, and White. I don't really know the work of the other two."

Julianne Hough is a two-time"Dancing With the Stars" champion;"

Let's not forget her work in Rock of Ages, Footloose, and Grease Live! 

Is anyone familiar with the work of the young playwright?

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 11:08pm

Hang on before buying if the prices and seat locations offend. As good as the cast is, and it's stellar indeed, this will likely be heavily discounted. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 11:41pm

Auggie27 said: "Hang on before buying if the prices and seat locations offend. As good as the cast is, and it's stellar indeed, this will likely be heavily discounted."

This. The ensemble may be talented, but it is not a group of stars that will sell large volumes of full-priced tickets. 

Separate from the above comment — who replaced Lucy Liu?

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 7:32am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Auggie27 said: "Hang on before buying if the prices and seat locations offend. As good as the cast is, and it's stellar indeed, this will likely be heavily discounted."

This. The ensemble may be talented, but it is not a group of stars that will sell large volumes of full-priced tickets.

Separate from the above comment — who replaced Lucy Liu?"

Being entirely blunt, it’s also not the best play in the world either. 

[BJR]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 8:31am

V excited, but The Shubert is a big house to fill for a new play...

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 9:33am

VintageSnarker: Is anyone familiar with the work of the young playwright?

I am not so I did a bit of research into her previous plays.

Something Clean - (Roundabout) The aftermath of a sex crime and how a mother (Kathryn Erbe) tries anything to keep her family intact.  A Brantley critic pick in 2019. There were 72 reviews on Show-Score with an overall average score of 84.  More importantly, 94% were positive, 6% mixed and 0% negative.

Faceless - Time Out called it “one hell of a debut” about a white teenage girl who wants to move overseas and join ISIS. For many the play will surely bring to mind the works of a young Aaron Sorkin: The characters are broad yet complex, likable but difficult, and often seem like vehicles for the words coming out of their mouths. This comparison is about 80% compliment, 20% critique.

I like the fact that the character of the President is not part of the cast.  My research has me intrigued and I am looking forward to this being a slick well-written farce that my soul really needs.  Count me in. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/5/22 at 12:18pm

Loopin’theloop said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Auggie27 said: "Hang on before buying if the prices and seat locations offend. As good as the cast is, and it's stellar indeed, this will likely be heavily discounted."

This. The ensemble may be talented, but it is not a group of stars that will sell large volumes of full-priced tickets.

Separate from the above comment — who replaced Lucy Liu?"

Being entirely blunt, it’s also not the best play in the world either."

 

Have you read it?