The Patriots 1943

Theatre has always intersected with politics, and the presence of American presidents in Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatre plays and musicals is a major part of this. Did you know that all of our heads of state have been featured in shows, whether as characters or as plot points that are part of the action? Dramatizing current and former leaders of our nation is a way to examine their affect on society at the time and how political events, even those of many years ago, still impact us all. 

Apple TV+ has announced the first all-access docuseries exploring the dramatic, high-stakes world of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) World Series and each teams’ battle to capture the most storied trophy in American sports, a World Series Championship.

Prior to being cast as Hans, I had already been assigned to research him as part of my duties as a dramaturg. Naturally, as soon as I found out I would be playing the role, I consumed every piece of media related to him and his life that I could.

This time, the reader question was: Oh, Mary! currently has so much buzz off-Broadway. What is the history of American presidents being depicted on stage?

FDR called the attack on Pearl Harbor "a day that will live in infamy." Equally ignominious, though, was his knee-jerk response: the decision to authorize the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps - without cause, trials, or hearings - for close to the duration of WWII. The Broadway musical ALLEGIANCE, championed by actor/activist George Takei and based on his true life experiences, attempts to shed light on that particularly ugly chapter in American history precisely at a time when a new generation of immigrants is being persecuted, detained and deported. In its New England regional premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, that mission is only partially achieved.

The B Street Theatre has announced its spring line-up. On the mainstage will appear Gina Gionfriddo's new comedy BECKY SHAW. The B-3 Series offering will be the American classic, I AM A CAMERA by John Van Druten. The Family Series will finish its season with Charles Way's exciting and moving version of the classic French tale, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.