Video Roundup: The 2020 Presidential Candidates as Tony-Winning Best Musicals

By: Oct. 29, 2019
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

The 2020 presidential candidates just got a little more musical! With the presidential campaigns officially underway, Twitter user @absobyrne took to social media to compare the current candidates to some of Broadway's Tony-winning Best Musicals. To help you get a better understanding at the comparisons, we're giving you a look inside each of the shows, from older classics like South Pacific and Hello, Dolly! to more recent shows including Rent and The Producers. Check it all out below!

Joe Biden - 1776

We piddle, twiddle, and resolve that Joe Biden is 1776! 1776 centers around John Adams as he and other Colonial representatives come together in Philadelphia to try to establish governmental rules for the burgeoning United States. Adams, along with Benjamin Franklin charge Thomas Jefferson with the work of writing a statement announcing the new country's emancipation from British rule.

Elizabeth Warren - Hello, Dolly!

Well well hello Elizabeth Warren! This presidential candidate is the classic Jerry Herman musical Hello, Dolly! The show centers around matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi as she attempts to marry Horace Vandergelder, the well-known half-millionaire. Along the way she also succeeds in that matching Irene Molloy with Vandergelder's head clerk, Cornelius Hackl, as well as Cornelius's assistant, Barnaby Tucker, with Mrs. Molloy's assistant, Minnie Fay.

Bernie Sanders - Rent

How do you measure, measure a campaign? Bernie Sanders is Jonathan Larson's classic rock musical Rent! The show's story centers around a group of impoverished young artists as they struggle to survive and create a life in Alphabet City with the shadow of HIV/AIDS continuing to loom over their heads.

Kamala Harris - Sunset Boulevard

She's ready for her closeup! Kamala Harris is the classic Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical Sunset Boulevard. The show centers around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era. When young screenwriter Joe Gillis accidentally comes across her decaying mansion where she's been living in the past, she asks him to help in her return to the big screen.

Pete Buttigieg - Company

Phone rings, door chimes, in comes Buttigieg! Company centers around Bobby, a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, on the eve of his 35th birthday. The show presents vignettes of his relationships with his married friends and with his three girlfriends.

Beto O'Rourke - South Pacific

Some enchanted campaign! Beto O'Rourke is the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific. Set on an island during World War II, the show follows two parallel love stories. A nurse named Nellie falls in love with French planter Emile. When Nellie learns that the mother of his children was an island native, she refuses Emile's marriage proposal. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Joe Cable denies himself a future with an innocent Tonkinese girl whom he's in love with due to the same fears that haunt Nellie.

Amy Klobuchar - Fiorello!

The name's Klobuchar! Amy Klobuchar is the 1959 Sheldon Harnick, and Jerry Bock musical Fiorello! The show revolves around New York City mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia and how how he took on Tammany Hall, which is in desperate need of an honest man to snip the strings of its political puppets.

Tom Steyer - Jerome Robbins' Broadway

It's a helluva campaign! Tom Steyer is the anthology musical Jerome Robbins' Broadway. The show encompasses the career of the legendary choreographer, showcasing numbers from some of his most iconic musicals, including West Side Story, The King and I, On the Town, and Fiddler on the Roof.

Andrew Yang - The Producers

He can do it! Andrew Yang is the record-breaking Mel Brooks musical The Producers. The story centers about Max Bialystock, a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer, and Leo Bloom, mild-mannered accountant, set out to create the most notorious Broadway flop in history in order to make a fortune. The show follows them as they maneuver their way through finding their show 'Springtime for Hitler,' hiring a director, and raising the money.


Vote Sponsor


Videos