Ghost of John McCain, the Off Broadway musical comedy that despatched Meghan McCain right into a summer-long pre-opening tizzy, has arrived after months of free publicity.
A modestly entertaining, fitfully intelligent political satire that takes place solely throughout the frazzled head of Donald Trump, a spot that appears lots like a three-star lodge foyer populated by the likes of, amongst others, the late Arizona senator, Hillary Clinton, Eva Peron, Taylor Swift, Joe Biden, Lindsey Graham and a Melania-Ivanka mash-up referred to easily as Daughter-Spouse.
Ghost of John McCain in the end comes off as a properly carried out, conceptually overcooked 90-minute SNL chilly open set to an amiably cartoonish present tune rating.
With a e-book by Scott Elmegreen, a rating by Drew Fornarola and route by Catie Davis, Ghost of John McCain was co-conceived by McCain’s first chief of workers Grant Woods, and a delicate affection for the “Maverick” underlines all the affair regardless of loads of equal-opportunity barbs. Finally, there’s just one villain right here (and he wasn’t invited to McCain’s funeral).
The musical begins with the 2018 loss of life of McCain, who arrives onstage spiffily wearing a white swimsuit, lugging a wheeled tote and, as performed engagingly by Jason Tam, wanting not a day older than when he was launched from the Hanoi Hilton. Within the jaunty musical quantity “Heaven or a Three-Star Resort,” McCain wonders the place, precisely, he’s landed.
When Roy Cohn and Hillary Clinton (initially clad in a crimson satan costume) present up, we, and McCain, rapidly confirm that this otherworldly summit is going down solely within the head of Donald Trump. Together with his loss of life lending him a renewed aura of heroism, McCain, just like the others, has taken up residence within the ever-churning thoughts of the envious, petty 45.
Additionally in attendance: an inner-child 14-year-old model of Trump himself, who each needles and kowtows to the booming, boorish (and offstage) voice of the grownup iteration. Convincingly performed by 23-year-old Luke Kolbe Mannikus, Boy Trump is equal components adolescent goof, insecure braggart and Joffrey Baratheon.
Luke Kolbe Mannikus and Jason Tam
Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
If the idea feels stretched, Ghost of John McCain comprises sufficient highlights – often when Mannikus’ Child Trump is entrance and middle – to go down simply. At factors Elmegreen’s e-book lands some real perception, as when the younger Trump and McCain sq. off in a debate to win over a generic, undecided Karen: Every donning a masks of the opposite, the 2 candidates start reciting precise quotes from their opponent, a veritable litany of flip-flopping and self-owns.
The corporate of ‘Ghost of John McCain’
Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
Greatest, although, is a revelation on the finish that offers new function each to the story and its characters. Not one in every of them, besides the Karen, can be leaving this hellscape anytime quickly, however that’s not essentially a foul factor. As one other play that includes Roy Cohn as soon as put it, the good work begins.
Title: Ghost Of John McCain
Venue: Off Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse Theatre
Director: Catie Davis
Guide: Scott Elmegreen
Music: Drew Fornarola
Forged: Jason Tam, Luke Kolbe Mannikus, Aaron Michael Ray, Zonya Love, Lindsay Nicole Chambers and Ben Fankhauser.
Working time: 1 hr 30 min (no intermission)
