Potus

Having had the opportunity to review "Potus" on Broadway a few years back, I passed on it. I have been fortunate to be a Broadway critic for many years and I get to chose which shows that I want to see. The reason I passed on it was that it looked kind of foolish. After reading fellow critics reviews I was glad that I passed as they had murdered it. When this show came on schedule at The Bergen County Players I figured "why not".

"Potus" is a pithy farce, bordering on the absurd; reminiscent of "A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine". As an audience member, you need to take out practicality and or believeablity. The cast is seven woman, all of who are related to the white house to some degree. This also includes the first lady.

The play is loosely based on past presidents even though it deals with one president in the play. The play can get silly at times but surprisingly the plot is passable and it kept the audiences attention for the 90 minutes. It is when writer Selina Fillinger reaches to far for the raucous laughs is when the play gets in trouble. The dialogue for the most part is sufficient without having characters taking acid and other foolish things. This weakens the plot and cheapens the show.

Director Lynn Lupfer had the cast very balanced throughout the show. The interaction among the actors made the play flow well. All of the ladies seemed like they were enjoying themselves on stage. The blocking of the show too was very well done. The Players stage is small and Lupfer did an admirable job in "spreading out the stage".

The set in this first rate theater company was well per-portioned. The set would allow for the different scenes, (and there were many) to be believable and fun to look at. The costumes too were innovative, from the classic to the flamboyant, Olga Garey did a wonderful job. Allen Seward is the lighting coordinator; hitting the stage with a more industrial flavor, it did the job in supporting the actresses.

The cast includes: Alyson Cohn as Harriet, Felicia Benson- Kraft as Bernadette, Marisa Gore as Stephanie, Danna Harris as Margaret, Katie Maul as Dusty, Rachelle Rennagel as Jean and Tonette Smith as Chris.

All of the ladies put forth a great performance and made this show fun to watch!

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Next up: The Joyce Theater Dance Studio. On Broadway is the last half of the fall season: Maybe, Happy Ending and Swept Away are next on the marquees. At the Shed is a promising King Lear. Tammy Faye and Wonderful World has some early buzz. Babe with Marisa Tomei too has a lot of chatter going for it. It will play at the Signature Theatre. Later on this season is Death Becomes Her as well as Eureka Day and Cult of Love.

What has been a hit or miss theater season, there have been some really good shows and some stinkers. More so this season than any in memory it has been really inconsistent as far as direction, story line, sets and casting for some of these shows.

What has been surprising good is the vast off and off off Broadway shows. Getting back to more conventional shows with less political themes and better writing makes for more enjoyable evenings. With smaller stages than Broadway, it is always interesting to see what the staging does, the lighting and how the directors navigate through the smaller spaces. Shows like Twelfth Night and People of the Book was done very well and to see them unwind was interesting.

Aladdin, The Lion King, Harry Potter, Hamilton, Six, Back to the Future.