Obama On My Mind

This Thursday Seattle's Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center will begin previews for their US premiere of the topical musical Obama On My Mind, written by London-based expat Teddy Hayes.

From Hayes' website:

OBAMA ON MY MIND is a musical comedy about a peculiar group of Obama campaign workers in a small American town and how these weird and humorous characters panic when Sarah Palin comes into the presidential race causing Obama to fall 20 points behind in the national polls.

This is a musical in the style of classic American musicals like “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”, “Damned Yankees” and “The Music Man”, with lots of energetic dancing, catchy songs and great fun.

The soundtrack ranges from pop to gospel to soft rock bringing together a cast of 11 loyal, obsessive and plain peculiar personalities striving to get their man into the white house.

In a statement given to Broadway World, LHPAC Artistic Director Jacqueline Moscou said, "In the arts, opportunity is often fleeting and timing is everything. The election of Barack Obama was an historic moment in American history and resonated around the globe. This cross-Atlantic artistic collaboration with a Black American living in London is current and needs to be presented now. Like last season's Bobbie & Jerome, Obama on My Mind continues my commitment to seek out new voices and present new works. And I am thrilled to have cast this show entirely from within the Seattle community."

The show ran March 5 - 21 in London; most of the reviews I found didn't mince words, calling it "opportunistic even at its most syrupy"(The Guardian) and noting that there were "chances missed to give the hard-working cast more substantial characters."(Times Online) A common complaint in the reviews I read was that the characters were reduced to broad stereotypes. MusicOMH reviewer Sam Smith was kinder, observing that Obama On My Mind was "strong on characterisation." He added that "certainly, by the end, I doubt there was a single audience member who didn't emerge singing the catchy title song to themselves." (You can hear the title song for yourself at Hayes' website, sung by the gifted Ruby Turner - whether it's the song or her voice, there's no arguing that it is a catchy tune.)

I'll probably see this show for a few reasons: it's the US premiere; I firmly believe in supporting local theater; and after reading the London reviews I'm just plain curious.

Obama On My Mind
Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center
Previews October 15 - 22
Show runs October 23 - November 15
Showtime at 7:30 pm (10/24, 10/31, 11/7 at 2 pm)
$5 - 22.00
Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets

Reviews of the London performance:
Guardian
The Londonist
MusicOMH
Times Online