{{Short description|Play by Selina Fillinger}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox play | name = ''POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive'' | image = POTUS, Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.png | caption = | writer = Selina Fillinger | characters = | setting = White House | premiere = April 14, 2022 | place = Shubert Theatre, New York City | orig_lang = English | subject = | genre = Satire | web = }} '''''POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive'''''<ref>[https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Meet-the-Cast-of-POTUS-Beginning-Previews-on-Broadway-Tonight-20220414 Meet the Cast of POTUS on Broadway]</ref> is a play by Selina Fillinger that opened on Broadway on April 27, 2022, at the Shubert Theatre. The original production was directed by Susan Stroman and starred Lilli Cooper (Chris), Lea DeLaria (Bernadette), Rachel Dratch (Stephanie), Julianne Hough (Dusty), Suzy Nakamura (Jean), Julie White (Harriet), and Vanessa Williams (Margaret).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Greg |date=2022-03-01 |title=New Broadway Comedy 'POTUS' To Star Rachel Dratch, Lilli Cooper, Julie White, Lea DeLaria, Julianne Hough, Suzy Nakamura & Vanessa Williams |url=https://deadline.com/2022/03/broadway-potus-rachel-dratch-lilli-cooper-julie-white-lea-delaria-1234968146/ |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Greg |title=Broadway's ''POTUS'' Comedy Moves Opening Date For Tony Eligibility |url=https://deadline.com/2022/03/broadway-potus-opening-date-moved-tony-eligibility-1234986071/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Media Corporation |date=March 24, 2022}}</ref> They were joined by Standbys Gisela Chípe, Jennifer Fouché, Lisa Helmi Johanson, and Awni Abdi-Bahri (as Anita Abdinezhad).<ref>{{Cite web |title=POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive – Broadway Play – Original {{!}} IBDB |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/potus-or-behind-every-great-dumbass-are-seven-women-trying-to-keep-him-alive-533991#OpeningNightCast |access-date=2026-05-19 |website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref>
==Plot summary== The show centers around a PR nightmare for the White House while seven women try to keep the president out of trouble.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://playbill.com/article/vanessa-williams-rachel-dratch-lilli-cooper-more-to-star-in-potus-on-broadway |title=Vanessa Williams, Rachel Dratch, Lilli Cooper, More to Star in POTUS On Broadway |last=Culwell-Block |first=Logan |website=Playbill |date=March 1, 2022 |access-date=March 1, 2022}}</ref>
== Cast == {| class="wikitable" !Role !Broadway, 2022 |- |Chris | align="center"|Lilli Cooper |- |Bernadette |align="center"|Lea DeLaria |- | Stephanie |align="center"|Rachel Dratch |- | Dusty |align="center"|Julianne Hough |- | Jean |align="center"|Suzy Nakamura |- | Harriet |align="center"|Julie White |- | Margaret |align="center"|Vanessa Williams |- |Standby Jean/Bernadette/Harriet/Margaret |Gisela Chípe |- |Standby Margaret/Harriet/Bernadette/Jean |Jennifer Fouché |- |Standby Dusty/Chris/Stephanie |Lisa Helmi Johanson |- |Standby Stephanie/Chris/Dusty |Awni Abdi-Bahri (Anita Abdinezhad) |}
== Reception == Jesse Green, chief theatre critic for ''The New York Times'', gave the production a mixed review, writing, "As a farce, 'POTUS' still plays by old and almost definitionally male rules; farce is built on tropes of domination and violence. On the other hand, and more happily, 'POTUS' lets us experience the double-bind of exceptional women unmediated by the men who depend on their complicity."<ref>{{cite web |last=Green |first=Jesse |date=April 27, 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/27/theater/potus-review-broadway.html|title= Review: In a Gleeful 'POTUS,' White House Enablers Gone Wild|website= The New York Times|accessdate= May 22, 2022}}</ref>
''The Washington Post'' theatre critic Peter Marks compared the show favorably to that of a mix between ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) and ''Veep''. He also praised its cast and in particular Susan Stroman for orchestrating the chaos on stage, writing, "Veteran director Susan Stroman is a choreographer by training. She has the mechanics of farce down pat, a knowledge base that ensures this team at all times has clockwork timing in its arsenal."<ref>{{cite news |last=Marks |first=Peter |date=April 29, 2022 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/04/29/potus-macbeth-broadway/|title= A bountiful Broadway season ends with laughs, thanks to 'POTUS'|newspaper= The Washington Post|accessdate= May 22, 2022}}</ref>
The ensemble cast received acclaim for their comedic roles. ''Variety'' critic Marilyn Stasio praised DeLaria as "priceless" and "vivid enough to be memorable".<ref>{{cite web |last=Stasio |first=Marilyn |date=April 28, 2022 |url=https://variety.com/2022/legit/reviews/potus-review-play-broadway-1235253436/|title= 'POTUS' Review: A Rollicking New Broadway Farce About the Women Behind the Idiot in the White House|website= Variety|accessdate= May 22, 2022}}</ref> Maureen Lee Lenker of ''Entertainment Weekly'' said, "Julianne Hough is particularly mesmerizing...[she] could easily be a mere stereotype, but she surprises at every turn."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Lenker|first=Maureen Lee |date=May 2, 2022 |url= https://ew.com/theater/potus-on-broadway-is-a-foulmouthed-political-funhouse-farce/|title= POTUS on Broadway is a foulmouthed political funhouse farce|magazine= Entertainment Weekly|accessdate= May 22, 2022}}</ref> ''Deadline Hollywood'' praised White's performance, calling her "one of the stage’s great comic actors" who "uses her knife-sharp bark of a voice as a sort of aural embodiment of the chaos on stage".<ref>{{cite web|last=Evans|first=Greg|date=April 27, 2022|url= https://deadline.com/2022/04/potus-broadway-review-rachel-dratch-selina-fillinger-julianne-hough-1235011112/|title= 'POTUS' Broadway Review: Julie White, Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough & All-Star Cast Corral Chaos In New Political Farce|website= Deadline Hollywood|accessdate= May 22, 2022}}</ref>
In the ''New York Post''{{'}}s mixed review, Johnny Oleksinski heaped praise on Dratch's performance, writing, "The genius Dratch is a riot as a nervous, introverted employee who practices power stances and can’t get a word in edgewise. Then she accidentally downs a bunch of hallucinogenic pills she thought were Tums and goes completely loco. The 'SNL' alum running wide-eyed around the theater wearing an inner-tube is the best part of the play."<ref>{{cite web|last=Oleksinski|first=Johnny|date=April 27, 2022 |url= https://nypost.com/2022/04/27/potus-broadway-review-amped-up-white-house-farce-is-too-wild/|title= 'POTUS' Broadway review: Amped-up White House farce is too wild|website= The New York Post|accessdate= May 22, 2022}}</ref>
===Accolades=== Julie White and Rachel Dratch both received nominations for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for their performances.
== Awards and nominations == === Original Broadway production === {| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Award !Category !Nominee !Result |- |rowspan="3"|2022 |rowspan="3"|Drama League Award<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/2022-Drama-League-Awards-Nominations-Announced--Full-List-20220425|title=2022 Drama League Awards Nominations Announced- Full List!|work=BroadwayWorld|date=25 April 2022|access-date=26 April 2022}}</ref> |colspan=2|Outstanding Production of a Play |{{nom}} |- |rowspan="2"|Distinguished Performance | Rachel Dratch |{{nom}} |- | Julie White |{{nom}} |- |rowspan="4"|2022 |rowspan="4"|Tony Awards<ref>[https://www.tonyawards.com/nominees/ Tony Award Nominations 2022]</ref> |rowspan="2"|Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role |Rachel Dratch |{{nom}} |- |Julie White |{{nom}} |- |rowspan="2"|Best Scenic Design of a Play |- | Beowulf Boritt |{{nom}} |}
==References== {{reflist}} {{Portal bar|Theatre|Politics}} {{Authority control}}
Category:2022 plays Category:Broadway plays Category:American comedy plays Category:American political plays Category:American satirical plays Category:Political satire plays Category:Plays set in Washington, D.C.