Photo: Patrick McMullan
Last night at Joe’s Pub, four teams made up of Broadway composers, directors, writers, actors, and assorted other creatives unveiled the works they had produced for the inaugural 24 Hour Musicals, which, like the annual 24 Hour Plays event, requires contestants to prepare a musical from scratch in just 24 hours. We swung by and took the opportunity to ask the punchy participants a question that’s been rolling around our heads since Iowa: If the presidential candidates were in a musical, what would it be? “I would do a musical about people that live under the subways, like the subway moles, and I would cast John McCain as, like, the leader of the underground subterranean people,” actress Ashlie Atkinson said breathlessly. “And then I would cast Hillary Clinton as a developer who is trying to destroy their oasis.” Mo Rocca had other ideas. “I think it would be a psychosexual thriller about Bill Clinton trying to hook up with Michelle Obama,” he said. “I’m currently obsessed with Michelle Obama. And, um, I think she’s beautiful. I think she’s dynamic. I think there will be legions of drag queens soon dressing up as Michelle Obama. She’s just a great sort of larger-than-life figure.” But what about Hillary? Is Hillary really musical material? “Umm,” he paused to think. “She’s tough with musicals. Hillary’s just not really very…musical.” —Amy Odell
