The same country that brought us Leni Riefenstahl is now set to deliver Hope: The Obama Musical. I’m serious, they are really doing this. The musical is set to open in Frankfurt on Jan. 17th and, in all fairness, it would be wrong for me to give any kind of opinion on the quality of this show before John Nolte flies me out to Germany to see it (John? I’m waiting…hello? Is this thing on?) [Ed. Note: Absolutely! Just bring back all your receipts and, uhm, I’ll get to them when I can.]
Luckily, the press office for this soon-to-be classic has assembled a slick little YouTube video highlighting all of the big moments of the show. Believe it or not, this video is meant to inspire you to buy a ticket.
Great, terrific, perfect… um… a couple things.
First of all, Does Shepard Fairey know you’ve stolen his logo for your set design? (I guess it’s ok since he stole it from someone else.)
Also, did I really just see an opening number framing America under Bush in 2008 as “Chaos”? Chaos?? Are you sure that isn’t meant as clever foreshadowing?
And how about those lyrics for “Chaos”:
Round and round
Upside-down
Inside-out
There’s no doubt.
We’re in Chaos!
Here come the hounds of Hell, Chaos!
As far as I can tell, Chaos!
From the show’s web site:
In no way does HOPE show Obama as a saint, but it grants us a view behind the scenes of his cometlike rise and also tells from the personal ups and downs of a man who has worked his way up from a social worker in Chicago to the most powerful man in the world, simply by using his power of persuasion.
In a stirring and modern musical production, HOPE shows the amazing history of the development of a new societal movement to a new generation.
The HOPE production team and its performers do not take up any political stance. We do not express a political opinion in our own name. The presentation of the public opinions and feelings in the musical follows the general interpretation of the current events like they prevail in the media and the society.
As easy as it would be to slam them on this, I actually pity their lack of self awareness. Remember: this is the same nation who convinced themselves that the Third Reich was just a natural response to the Treaty of Versailles and not an atrocious attempt at world domination fueled by hateful paranoia… If they can rationalize that, they can pretend their play is not political hagiography.
I also noticed an interesting bit of casting. The roles of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin are played by the same woman (only major characters in the piece double-cast in this fashion). Is this a subtle bit of subtext from the director? Maybe the message is, “All those white women who stood in the way of Obama being President look alike to me.”
So, it appears that producers in Germany think there is a market for hip-hop hagiography. Maybe there is, for now. But, as President Obama’s policies continue to drag down the world’s economy and send mixed messages to our international partners regarding the Islamic terrorist threat, the next big Obama musical might be a lot less “Jesus Christ Superstar” and a lot more “Wicked.”