POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive begins its Broadway run at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre April 14. Directed by Tony winner Susan Stroman, the production opens April 27, with the limited engagement set to run through August 14. Twenty-eight year-old The Morning Show writer Selina Fillinger makes her Broadway debut as the work's playwright.
The work's all-star cast includes Tony winner Julie White, Tony nominees Lilli Cooper and Vanessa Williams, Lea Delaira, Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough, and Suzy Nakamura. Hough and Nakamura make their Broadway debuts with the production.
The work, a 2019 selection for the Killroys' List, is described as a "modern farce," centering on a PR nightmare that befalls the White House as seven female support staff risk everything to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble. Cooper stars as Chris, DeLaria as Bernadette, Dratch as Stephanie, Hough as Dusty, Nakamura as Jean, White as Harriet, and Williams as Margaret.
“Growing up in Oregon, long before I could fathom working on Broadway, all I wanted was to glimpse it,” said Fillinger in an earlier statement. “To be premiering my play at the Shubert, with this extraordinary cast and the legendary director, Susan Stroman, is quite literally the stuff of dreams. I hope the show offers joy, folly, and the strength to keep fighting at a time when the world needs all three.”
Rounding out the company are understudies Anita Abdinezhad, Gisela Chípe, Jennifer Fouché, and Lisa Helmi Johnason. The production also features voiceovers from E. Clayton Cornelius, Richard Gatta, Pat Kiernan, Kevin Ligon, JC Montgomery, and Ari Shapiro.
POTUS features scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Sonoyo Nishikawa, sound design by Jessica Paz, hair and wig design by Cookie Jordan, fight and intimacy direction by Rocio Mendez, and make-up design by Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche. Casting is by Taylor Williams, with Johnny Milani serving as production stage manager.
The play is produced on Broadway by Seaview, Lynette Howell Taylor's 51 Entertainment, Glass Half Full Productions, and Level Forward, along with Salman Al-Rashid, Runyonland Productions, Sony Music Masterworks, One Community, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Jonathan DeMar, Imagine Equal Entertainment, Lucas Katler, David J. Lynch, Leonid Makaron, Liz Slager, Ted Snowdon, Natalie Gorman/Tisch Brennan Throop, and The Shubert Organization, with Mark Shacket serving as executive producer. Level Forward also serves as impact producer, handling key partnerships with organizations supporting women running for office and voter registration.
Visit POTUSBway.com.
