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Seaview, 51 Entertainment, Glass Half Full Productions and Level Forward announced today that the world premiere of Selina Fillinger’s modern farce POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, will be filmed for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. POTUS, now playing the final weeks of its limited Broadway engagement at the iconic Shubert Theatre will be filmed during the Tuesday, August 2 performance.
The archive at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has preserved live theatrical productions and documented the creative contributions of distinguished artists and legendary figures of the theatre since 1970. Thanks to a generous donation from The Ted Snowdon Foundation, POTUS is honored to join the largest, most comprehensive collection of live theatre anywhere in the world.
An uproarious new comedy about the women in charge of the man in charge of the free world, POTUS marks the Broadway debut of 28-year-old playwright Selina Fillinger (Something Clean), in a production directed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers, The Scottsboro Boys). One four-letter word is about to rock 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When the President unwittingly spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis, the seven brilliant and beleaguered women he relies upon most risk life, liberty, and the pursuit of sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble.
POTUS features an all-star cast of women, including Tony Award nominee Lilli Cooper (Tootsie, “The Good Fight”) as Chris; Screen Actors Guild Award winner Lea DeLaria (“Orange is the New Black,” The Rocky Horror Show) as Bernadette; “SNL” comedy legend and 2022 Tony Award Nominee Rachel Dratch (“Saturday Night Live,” Wine Country) in her Broadway debut as Stephanie; Emmy Award winner Julianne Hough (Footloose, Safe Haven, “Dancing with the Stars”) in her Broadway debut as Dusty; actress and comedian Suzy Nakamura (“Dr. Ken,” Horrible Bosses 2, “Avenue 5”) in her Broadway debut as Jean, Tony Award winner Julie White (The Little Dog Laughed, “Nurse Jackie,” Transformers) as Harriet; and Grammy, Emmy & Tony Award nominee Vanessa Williams (Into the Woods, “Ugly Betty,” “Desperate Housewives”) as Margaret. The cast also includes Anita Abdinezhad (Persian Pod), Gisela Chípe (“Manifest”), Jennifer Fouché (Chicken & Biscuits), and Lisa Helmi Johanson (Avenue Q) as standbys.
The play began previews at the Shubert Theatre on Thursday, April 14, 2022, and officially opened on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, earning three 2022 Tony Award nominations and three 2022 Drama League Award nominations, including Best Play. The production also won the 2022 Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Best New Play. Deemed a “gleefully filthy comedy” by The New York Times, POTUS led the Washington Post to declare that “the next best thing to ‘Veep’ has arrived on Broadway! A hilariously raucous new comedy, in which a septet of women let their funny flags fly.” Entertainment Weekly gives it a “Grade A! A well-oiled laugh riot, and a breath of fresh air on Broadway. POTUS is a foulmouthed political funhouse, and the likelihood that you will laugh until your face hurts is one of near certainty.” Variety described the play as “a rollicking, fiercely funny comedy, with a dream-team of priceless performers... who aren’t afraid to use the c-word with all the pride and joy it deserves. It’s hard not to howl at the delicious fun!” The New York Post wrote, “If ‘The West Wing’ banned all men and snorted a line of coke before the curtain went up, it might look something like POTUS – a fun night out, with a truly brilliant cast of comedic actors who embrace and explode the qualities that made them famous.”
POTUS features Scenic Design by Tony Award winner Beowulf Boritt (Act One, Come from Away), Costume Design by Tony Award winner Linda Cho (Grand Horizons, Anastasia), Lighting Design by Sonoyo Nishikawa (Once Upon a One More Time, Prince of Broadway On Tour), and Sound Design by Tony Award winner Jessica Paz (Hadestown, Dear Evan Hansen), Hair and Wig Design by Cookie Jordan (Slave Play, Trouble In Mind). Intimacy and Fight Direction is by Rocio Mendez (Merry Wives of Windsor, Romeo y Julieta at The Public Theater), Casting is by Artios Award winner Taylor Williams (What the Constitution Means to Me, Slave Play), Production Stage Management is by Johnny Milani (Kinky Boots, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), and General Management is by Foresight Theatrical (The Phantom of the Opera, Moulin Rouge!). The producing team also includes 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, Mark Gordon Pictures, Liz Slager, Ted Snowdon, Natalie Gorman/Tish Brennan Throop, and The Shubert Organization. Mark Shacket serves as Executive Producer. Lead Producer Level Forward serves as Impact Producer for the play and established The POTUS Coalition with partner organizations: Black Voters Matter, Center For Reproductive Rights, ERA Coalition, IGNITE, She The People, Supermajority Education, and Vote Mama.
Tickets to POTUS are on sale now at Telecharge.com/212-239-6200. The performance schedule is Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday at 2 & 8pm, Thursday at 7pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm.