Shanice portrays Michelle Obama and T. J. Wilkins is Barack Obama in Eli Bauman’s 44—The Musical.
Right in the middle of election season, 44—The Musical has arrived Off-Broadway. The show takes Barack Obama’s historic rise and views it through a carnival mirror, refracting statesmanship into satire. Written, composed, and directed by former Obama campaign staffer Eli Bauman, it gleefully revisits Obama’s presidency as Joe Biden “kinda sorta” remembers it, complete with political foibles, larger-than-life personalities, and musical swagger.
Dino Shorté plays former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain (center), joined by two of his campaign workers, performed by Jenna Pastuszek (left) and Summer Collins.
As the show tells it, Obama’s journey is less a straight path than a zigzag of campaign-trail chaos, media mythmaking, and the peculiar theater of American politics. Bauman leans into the memory-warped perspective, presenting key figures—from starry-eyed volunteers to swaggering power brokers—as heightened caricatures who dance, spar, sermonize, and occasionally break into pop parody. It’s a world where campaign idealism brushes up against ego and absurdity, where history’s “hope and change” feels both sincere and hilariously overblown. The result is a musical that gestures toward truth even as it winks at how slippery truth can be. It is serendipity that it opened the same week as Election Day
T.J. Wilkins, a veteran of season 6 of The Voice—leads the cast as Obama. He’s not an impersonator, but he deftly channels Obama’s bearing and that signature “no-drama Obama” calm—an aura former staffers famously observed with both admiration and relief. Wilkins also brings considerable musical firepower to the role. His soulful voice—often described as a blend of classic and contemporary R&B with echoes of Marvin Gaye, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder—gets a full workout here. Over the course of the musical, he moves fluidly from soul and R&B to rock and jazz without losing the grounded warmth that anchors his Obama. Or as Wilkins’ Obama croons:
Chad Doreck is Joe Biden, the narrator whose hazy recollections provide the portal into Obamaland in 44—The Musical. Photographs by Jenny Anderson.
My father was from Kenya–My mother from Kansas
My American dream was a blank canvas
My grandma gave me all she had
Always there to guide me
She brought me up with Lady Liberty inside me
There ain’t no red states, there ain’t no blue
There’s only the United States, that’s me and you.
Chad Doreck plays Joe Biden, the show’s narrator, whose “hazy” recollections provide the portal into Obamaland and the private life of the nation’s first Black president. History buffs will recall the famously close partnership between Obama and Biden—a bond so affectionate the press dubbed it a “bromance.” Doreck’s performance draws humor from that legacy while grounding it in genuine warmth. His Biden may appear wobbly, a halting elder statesman with more mileage than momentum, but once the music kicks in, he snaps into motion—transforming into a whirlwind dancer and an eager sidekick who can slip into any scene with goofy charm:
Strap yourself in, let our journey begin
Let me tell ya ’bout my bestie B.O.
There’s no debate no referendum, I’ll always defend him
We’re Facebook friends, and I’ll never unfriend him.
On the distaff side, Shanice brings warmth and poise to Michelle Obama, slipping into the role with easy charm and grounded grace. Her First Lady stands firmly in her own power, as she reminds us in one of her numbers:
First there was Martha, Eleanor, Jackie, and Hillary
But there has never been another First Lady like me.
From left: Summer Collins plays Sarah Palin, Larry Cedar is Mitch McConnell, and Michael Uribes is Ted Cruz in 44—The Musical, an affectionate spoof of the Obama White House years.
In sharp contrast, Jenna Pastuszek’s Hillary Clinton is drawn as a woman still stung by disappointment—her refrain about having an election “stolen” from her lands with both bite and bruised pride.
And then there are the political antagonists: Larry Cedar’s Mitch McConnell, Michael Uribes’s Ted Cruz, and Jeff Sumner’s Lindsey Graham—portrayed as a gleefully obstructive trio eager to derail Obama’s every move. They are, without question, the villains the audience loves to hate.
The score ranges from irreverent to tender, and one standout is the duet “White House Love,” in which Barack and Michelle step away from policy battles to savor the awe and intimacy of being the first Black couple to make a home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
44—The Musical is not a deep psychological excavation of the Obama White House, nor does it pretend to be. It’s a playful, buoyant romp through recent history—part memory, part myth, part musical revue—and it delivers what it promises: a good-spirited, sharply performed evening of political theater that delights far more than it debates.
44—The Musical plays through Dec. 7 at the Daryl Roth Theatre (101 E. 15th St.). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, at 8 p.m. Saturday, and at 7:30 p.m. Sunday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit 44theobamamusical.com.
Book, Lyrics, Music, & Direction: Eli Bauman
Scenic Design: Julio Himede, Yellow Studio
Sound Design: Jonathan A. Burke
Costume Design: Matthew Hemesath
Lighting Design: Nathan W. Scheuer &Natali Arco
Music Director: Anthony “Brew” Brewster
Choreography: Miss James Alsop
