Interview: Eli Bauman on the 'Absurd and High-Stakes' 44 - THE MUSICAL

Eli Bauman, known for his work on the Obama 2008 campaign and as a television writer, is taking on the world of theatre as the writer, composer, director, and producer of 44 – THE MUSICAL. The satirical Obama musical comedy has had successful runs in Los Angeles and Chicago, and is now making it's New York debut at the The Daryl Roth Theatre for a limited eight-week engagement beginning on October 14. 

BroadwayWorld spoke with Bauman about striking the balance between comedy and truth in satire, why the show is resonating so strongly with theatregoers, what New York audiences can expect from 44 - The Musical, and more! 

You’ve had an unconventional career path, from working on Obama’s 2008 campaign, to writing for television, and now to creating a musical. How did your experiences on the campaign trail inform the humor and storytelling of 44?

For anyone who hasn’t worked on a campaign, it is one of the most insane experiences you can possibly have [laughs], especially when you work in the field and on the ground. And coupled with that, I did it in Las Vegas, which is its own kind of strange ecosystem! And a lot of what it is, you just talk to a million different people, and it’s this very revealing experience. You realize how generally uninformed people are about what’s going on, which I think for someone like me, quite politically active, is actually a really important thing to remember. Most people are just trying to live their lives, and they’re not swept up in the day to day.

But, I think it definitely informed my belief system that while people have very different belief systems, we all kind of want the same general things. And I think what’s interesting about this show, is my beliefs are what they are, but it’s very oddly not a partisan show in that way. It’s not earnest, it doesn’t beat you over the head, it’s equal opportunity both in affection and with a biting satire. I also am very careful never to punch down in the humor. Everyone involved is a public figure. I think in a weird way, it definitely informed my attitude, it’s both absurd and high-stakes.

The show has had runs in Los Angeles and Chicago, and a wide variety of audiences have seen it. What do you think it is about 44 that resonates so broadly?

What’s interesting is, I in the making of it thought very little about what I should expect from an audience reaction. Once you put it out into the world you have no idea. But one thing we really stumbled on is how joyful it is. It is a really fun, joyful show. Our audiences are rowdy!

I give a little talk at the beginning of the show, and I say, “Hey, I’m giving all of you guys permission to make noise and have fun at this show. This is not the kind of show where you have to sit silently and mind your P’s and Q’s. You are welcome, if the spirit moves you, to move with it, and enjoy yourselves, and not be nervous about getting side-eyed if you shift in your seat.” And I’ve heard back from people, “Wow, that was nice!” [laughs]. It sets the expectation that this is an organism that that the audience is also involved in.

We have had people shout very funny things at us. It’s been this beautiful experience. We’ve had people in tears after the show, it reminding them of a time of hope. We’ve had people be like, “Wow, it was both joyful and depressing,” because that just all feels very far away. But mostly people have a good time, there are so many people who have made friendships in our audience. We have one couple who has seen the show twenty times now. So, it’s become this beautiful thing, and what’s great is that it’s happened organically, it wasn’t some master plan.

To speak to the oddly nonpartisan nature of the show, our audience has people who have seen Les Mis ten times on Broadway, and people who have barely heard of Les Mis on Broadway. We have people who know very well who all the characters in our show are, like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, and then we have people who are literally googling who Lindsay Graham is during intermission. Our Mitch McConnell character, played by Larry Cedar, is somewhat the opposite of actual Mitch McConnel. Our Mitch McConnell is wild, and says all the quiet parts out loud, but he is often a crowd favorite [laughs]. So we have had people who, I assure you, are lifelong democrats who love our Mitch McConnell and shout at Mitch McConnel positively about halfway through the show.

Satire can be tricky. How do you strike the balance between comedy, truth, and respect when portraying these very well-known political figures, like Barack Obama and the characters around him?

There are a couple of really good bets that I made early in this process, thank God. Number one is there is no Trump in it whatsoever, so that already takes a little bit of the pressure off. Because I feel like Trump is such a divisive split of people’s opinions. The other trick that worked out really early, is the story is told from Joe Biden’s hazy recollection. So, pretty much about five minutes into the show you know you’re not going to get a fact by fact biopic earnest retelling of Obama. It’s not going to talk at you in that way. And our Joe Biden, who is played by Chad Doreck, who is phenomenal, Chad is in his 40s and is very chiseled, and moonwalks, and has a six pack, which he will revealed to the audience about a half-hour in. So, people kind of know very early that they’re in for something different.

And that’s also one of the beauties of our show, I think people come in with whatever their expectation is, and I know in my own gut that about 30 seconds to two minutes into the show, whatever they expected is not what’s going to happen to them. And I get to watch people lean back in their seat like, ‘Phew!’ But again, I try to never punch down, which I think helps sell the idea that this is not some big, partisan takedown.

You’re serving as writer, composer, director, and producer for the show. What has it been like to wear so many hats in bringing this show from concept to stage?

It’s exhausting! I also have two very young children, so I get done with all of the hats I wear, and then I have a four year old and a seven year old waiting, and they could not care less about all the hats I’m wearing, nor should they! But as someone who has never done this before, I was very nervous at the beginning of becoming overly reliant on someone else, and I think you can fall into a trap of people being like, “Well, this is what you should do.” And I always wanted to do this my way, and my bent was, 'Hey if I spent three years writing this thing, and it sucks, and it fails, I want it to be because of me.' And also my producing partner, Monica Saunders-Weinberg, we’ve been in it together from the jump, and we share a very similar mindset about doing things our way. And that’s what we’ve done.

Our band is not a musical theatre band, they’re led by Anthony Brewster, who I met on a totally different project, and the only person who knew less about musical theatre than I did was him. And we just kind of did it the way we wanted to do it! And this has been the result.

What would you say you’re most excited for in bringing the show to New York audiences?

It’s an absolute thrill to bring it to New York. I lived in New York for a decade, I went to college in New York, so in a lot of ways it still feels like home. It’s our first time in the belly of the beast, and you never know how something is going to resonate, but it feels like the right place at the right time for us. I recently saw Oh, Mary! In New York, and our show is different than that, but it feels kind of similar in its DNA in that it’s very much its own wild ride. And you kind of buy in early, and you let it run with you. So that was inspiring in that way.

I have no idea how people are going to take it city to city, so far it’s been great! But I love New York, New York will let you know what they think pretty damn quick, which I like! That’s the beauty of theatre, you get real reactions in real time. It’s instant feedback, good, bad, or indifferent. And I will say our show very rarely elicits an indifferent response.

Final question, do we know if Barack Obama knows this musical exists?