Clinton the Musical. Photograph via Black Swan Theatre Company.
At the Australian premiere of Clinton the Musical it occurs to me that this is a fairly unlikely musical theatre piece to have emerged from the US of A. In fact it’s two Brisbane brothers, Paul and Michael Hodge, who have written a book then a musical based on the Clinton goings on – as they continue to this day. The musical has been performed to high praise off-Broadway, in London and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before making its way back to Australia to the packed opening house State Theatre audience – hugely appreciating the importance of the occasion.
Brilliantly directed by Adam Mitchell, the musical starts with a bang: the full company of seven singing ‘Clinton’ where we are introduced to both WJ Clinton (played by Simon Burke) and Billy (played by Matt Dyktynski). I’ll leave it up to you to guess who is the pot smoking, saxy, sexy one.
This theatre construct works very well on stage with WJ leading in the first half and Billy in the second, but perhaps not so well when tying up loose moral ends and responsibilities, even though Hillary is encouraging reconciliation in ‘Both Ways’, a song open to interpretation. As WJ Clinton regretfully says towards the end of this rip-roaring sexual innuendo laughfest, his legacy is more about fellatio – but this is what comes from the divided self – Billy gets all the fun and WJ seems a bit of a shadow self.
The star of the show is – funnily enough – Hillary Rodham Clinton who begins by telling us this is the story of her first presidency! Played with gusto by Lisa Adam, who embraces her role as candy-coloured pantsuit-wearing Presidential wannabee. There is Cher singing, shape-shifting, shameless self -promotion whilst subtly poking fun at herself, as everyone else does (‘I’m not being sexist, but she cries too much and not enough!’) and Adam is brilliantly convincing at everything – singing, dancing, falling over, and comic timing.
The writing by Paul Hodge is clever, funny, sometimes empathetic and smutty – the innuendo is pretty much always there, with a whispered condemnation overheard when Brendan Hanson as Kenneth Starr stripped off to his very sexually provocative cut out leather pants. And talking of cut-outs, the cast do a great job with the cardboard cut-out of Al Gore, who becomes the butt of a number of jokes, along with several other cardboard figures making up the Senate.
The ensemble work is uniformly brilliant but mention must be made of Luke Hewitt who plays Newt Gingrich and the sleazy newspaperman. The writing of Gingrich, like many of the other characterisations in this piece, has made him into a caricature of constant eating and childlike demeanour but the actor puts so much conviction into it, that when the evil Kenneth Starr is manically laughing and Gingrich joins before banally uttering, ‘Why are we laughing?’, the comedic pathos and human tragedy hits you right between the eyes. Hewitt’s consumption of the tinned peaches is a masterpiece of comic timing.
Other exceptional performances include Hanson as Kenneth Starr, with sterling support from the script, but he took delight in the oily machinations that were raised to manic levels, implying Starr was sexually obsessed with getting to the bottom of Clinton’s impeachment. Simon Burke and Matt Dyktynski as the main instigators of all this action were surprisingly tame, and with neither being strong singers their mastery of the roles suffered, however Simon Burke looks remarkably like Bill Clinton. Megan Kozok is a fantastic singer and brought beauty and grace to the role of Monica Lewinsky. Clare Moore played both Eleanor Roosevelt and Linda Tripp to great effect.
The set design by Bruce McKinven was a sleight of hand masterpiece and was a main player in the success of this performance with its initial imposing façade that soon shows the depths of stairway entrances used to magnificent effect. Integral to this White House cupola arrangement is the band sitting in the top room – evoking that great Southern party atmosphere within a striking white building with gentle tunes ‘waftin’ through tha air’. The 4 piece band led by Music Director David Young were very smooth with film score dramatic moments, 90’s dance inspired tunes, and a few unforgettable earworm songs like ‘Monica’s Song’ with ‘I’m f***ing the f***ing president… oh yeah!’ which has a hilarious dénouement. Eleanor Roosevelt’s ‘Brew it For Your Country’ had whip-clever lines that both set Hillary up and poked fun at her. ‘It Depends/Sexual Relations’ was a Bill Clinton song (‘loin and breast, groin and breast’) that had the audience rolling in the aisles.
Lighting design by Mark Howett was another integral part of the success of this performance with spotlights and quick cuts to highlight the dynamism on stage and bring actors to the fore in between the activity. You don’t need to remember the history of that tumultuous presidential era to enjoy this show as there are program notes; as for the playwrights’ claim to show us Clinton’s ‘messy humanity’ I’m not sure that is achieved because as Kenneth Starr points out – there’s dirt, lies and sex in this show, which ultimately does not really leave time to look at the other side – but certainly leaves the audience begging for more.
Rating: 4​ ½ stars out of 5​
Clinton the Musical
A Black Swan State Theatre Company production
Music and Lyrics by Paul Hodge
Book by Paul Hodge and Michael Hodge
Director: Adam Mitchell
Musical Director: David Young
Set & Costume Design: Bruce McKinven
Sound Designer: Ben Collins
Choreographer: Claudia Alessi
Lighting Designer: Mark Howett
Performed by Lisa Adam, Simon Burke, Matt Dyktynski, Brendan Hanson, Luke Hewitt, Megan Kozak and Clare Moore
Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA
27 August – 11 September 2016
