POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive

B

Selena Fillinger has to be one of the luckiest 28-year-olds in the history of New York theater. Her latest play has been given a world premiere at Shubert’s namesake theater without so much as a workshop or an out-of-town tryout. It has a top-drawer cast and a Tony-awarded director (Susan Stroman), scenic designer (Beowulf Boritt) and costume designer (Linda Cho). Surprisingly, the show has tiptoed onto Broadway with very little fanfare. And what kind of show is it? The show’s subtitle is almost a summary of the plot. The first word in the play is the C word and that sets the tone for all that follows. It’s a fun-filled, filthy, feminist farce with an all-female cast. We meet seven women in the president’s orbit: frosty first lady Margaret (Vanessa Williams), frazzled chief of staff Harriet (Julie White), frantic press secretary Jean (Suzy Nakamura), foolish receptionist Stephanie (Rachel Dratch), felonious sister Bernadette (Lea Delaria), fresh-faced girlfriend Dusty (Julianne Hough) and forceful Time reporter (Lilli Cooper). Each has a role to play in getting through one of the worst days in the mostly unseen POTUS’s presidency. The spectacular set revolves to display many beautifully realized White House’s rooms right down to the ladies’ room, complete with coin-operated tampon machine. The connecting doors get quite a workout as the manic plot winds its way. There are many good one-liners and lots of physical comedy. While the first act is a gem, the play starts to lose energy midway through the second act, straining our willingness to suspend disbelief. The musical ending seems to belong to a different show. Nevertheless, for most of the way, it’s great fun. The audience loved it. One line about abortion rights got thunderous applause. It’s hard to single out anyone in the uniformly strong cast, but the talented Ms. Hough was a revelation to me and Ms. Dratch’s antics threaten to steal the show. It’s on TDF so tickets are within reach. I guarantee you will have a lot of laughs. Running time: one hour 40 minutes including intermission.