I know what’s going on in the advertiser’s office for “You’re Welcome America, A Final Night With George Bush“. Every morning after a show opens the producers assemble with the agency and dissect the reviews pulling out the best quotes to be used in ads, posters and banners on the theatres doors and marquee. Based on the raves, I’m sure they’re having a pretty fun time.
But, as your trusted, center/right theatre observer here at Big Hollywood, I read the same reviews and pulled out my own quotes. You see, the content of the reviews I’ve been reading reveal less to me about what’s going on up on the stage at the Cort, it’s says more to me about the bias of the critics. They are taking the opportunity of this show to send their own, gratuitous shots at “W.”
Here are the quotes I’d like to pull for a poster proving theatre critics are leftists:
“The days when criticism of Mr. Bush could be censured as unpatriotic may be long gone…” – Ben Brantley, NY Times
“Right in line with Bush’s reinvention of himself as a tried and true Texan–who happened to have been born in Connecticut and then went to Yale University…” – Michael Kuchwara, AP
“Chronicle of a political career carved out of nepotism, cynicism, chutzpah and careful management, and marked by a series of colossal blunders and false achievements.” – David Rooney, Variety
“…the prospect of spending an evening in the company of George W. Bush hardly sounds appealing…” – Frank Scheck, NY Post
“…right on time for both silly fun and smart summing-up of an epoch the country just voted overwhelmingly to change.” – Linda Winer, NY Newsday
“…reflects all of Dubya’s key traits–it’s tacky, cocky, defensive, a little half-assed here and there, utterly full of itself … ” – Scott Brown, New York Magazine
It makes you wonder if the anticipated critical reception is one of the reasons more conservative plays aren’t produced on Broadway.
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