Clinton: The Musical to open at New York Music Theater Festival on July 18

Clinton: The Musical will make its US debut at the New York Music Theater Festival.

Written and directed by Australian brothers Paul and Michael Hodge, the musical offers a satirical take on President Bill Clinton’s time in the White House.

Clinton: The Musical, a satire about scandals of the 1990s, will make its US premiere on July 18 as part of the New York Musical Theater Festival. It portrays two sides of President Bill Clinton: the jovial id who cannot control himself and the pensive policy wonk who cannot stop talking about the intricacies of health care reform.

Hillary Clinton is the struggling-to-be-stabilizing force, grappling with the Lewinsky scandal while slyly eyeing her own Senate run.

Paul Hodge said his inspiration was Bill Clinton’s 2004 autobiography, My Life, in which the former president explored his “outside life” and his “internal life”.

Dick Morris, the former Bill Clinton aide-turned-enemy, called these parallel lives “Saturday Night Bill” and “Sunday Morning President Clinton”.

There are 21 songs in the show and the character of Bill Clinton is played by two different actors, aiming to show the “two sides” to the former US President.

“He’s so complex that it seemed like an appropriate device,” Paul Hodge said.

The Clintons have already left a big mark on pop culture, from the 1998 movie Primary Colors, based on the roman à clef by Joe Klein, to The Special Relationship, a 2010 HBO movie about Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.

The USA Network’s political drama Political Animals, with Sigourney Weaver as a fictional version of Hillary Clinton, lasted a single season.

In Clinton: The Musical, Duke Lafoon portrays Billy Clinton, the fun-loving side to the serious W. J. Clinton (Karl Kenzler). Duke Lafoon had previously played Bill Clinton in Monica! The Musical, a 2005 Off Broadway show that featured Hillary Clinton as a scheming strategist.

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