The Most Important Question Not Being Asked

You wouldn’t spend $100 on a Broadway theater ticket unless you had some familiarly with the show.  We do this as consumers because when making important financial decisions it is necessary to be informed.  So why then are theatergoers/consumers, who are also voters, failing to ask incumbent candidates the most important question of this election: What policies will you pursue during Congress’s Lame Duck session?

In case you missed it, Congress adjourned over the weekend and will not return until after the election.  The post-election Congressional session is called the ‘Lame Duck’ session.  This is when, regardless of the election outcome, incumbents return to Congress for 36 days and vote on legislation which they failed to address during the regular congressional session.  How important is this session?

The spending and tax bills which will be discussed account for roughly 4% of America’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  Below is a quick outline of just some of the items being discussed:

Bush Tax Cuts – To Renew vs. To Expire

The Bush Tax Cuts are set to expire after several extensions.  It’s unclear what position President Obama and the Democrats plan to take, while the Republicans will most likely vote against any tax increase/expiration.  The tax cuts effect roughly 72% of the population.  In FY2013 they are worth $221 billion dollars, providing tax payers with average savings of $1,765.  Just think for a moment, how you would be affected with $1,765 less in your pocket?

Sequestration – A Tough Reality

Last summer, when Congress and President Obama failed to achieve a grand bargain on the debt ceiling, they left the American public with sequestration.  This is a Congressional procedure where, if Congress failed to cut spending, a series of automatic spending cuts totaling more than $110 billion would be enacted.  The Congress Budget Office estimates that this would slow American GDP growth down to .5% and throw us back into a recession.

The Debt Ceiling – America’s Cancer

Even though the debt ceiling does not need to be raised until spring, another debacle like the one last summer could do lasting damage to the America economy.  Our debt is a cancer, and further inaction to get it under control could do lasting harm.  Both the Bush Tax Cuts and Sequestration influence our debt situation, but it remains to be seen whether Congressional action will be a positive or a negative.

The 36 days that will make-up the 112^th Congress’s Lame Duck Session is what Washington is gearing up for.  Without the shadow of incumbency, or an election, legislators will need to address America’s pending fiscal problems.  It’s a question worth asking every candidate on the campaign trail, and one often being ignored: What policies will you pursue during Congress’s Lame Duck session?

For more information on the Lame Duck Session please check out:

The Economist – July 14, 2012 edition – “The American Economy: Comeback Kid”

 National Journal – July 2, 2012 edition – “Field Guide to the Lame Duck Session”

The Price of Politics by Bob Woodward, Available for purchase on amazon.com

Review: The Book of Mormon

The message on religion was enlightening and the production quality stellar, yet with dated jokes and lacking memorable songs, The Book of Mormon falls flat and is anything but God’s gift to musical theater.  I know, I know…this was supposed to be the greatest musical ever!  Regardless, I entered the theater really hoping to like it, but two acts and one intermission later, I found myself completely bored.

For those who don’t know, The Book of Mormon is about two young Mormon missionaries assigned to work in Uganda.  Their task is to spread the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to a country ravaged by war.  The show has the potential to be both a comedic masterpiece and a prophetic statement on faith in the 21^st century.  And yet, The Book of Mormon fails in both areas because of three key problems: direction, humor and music/lyrics.

The Book of Mormon’s plot is solid; however the direction of the show is what keeps it from being more than mediocre.  Much of the show’s problem is that it never seems to define itself.  Is The Book of Mormon a, critique of the Mormon faith, personal statement on faith in general, satire of religion/religious missionaries or musical farce?  With a solid creative team that includes Matt Stone and Trey Parker (South Park) and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q); it’s tragic to think the writers couldn’t provide the show with greater guidance.

Adding to the misdirection are the show’s jokes, some of which are good, but most seem like old-school shtick you’d expect to see in a second-rate lounge act in Atlantic City.  This includes mispronouncing foreign names, mocking religion and jokes about homosexuals misinterpreting their sexual identity.  Some of the jokes can be cruel, but most seem like material that failed to the make the cut of a South Park episode.

And if the jokes were bad, the songs weren’t any better.  Sounding like someone threw Avenue Q, Wicked and Spamalot into a blender, The Book of Mormon’s music and lyrics lack originality.  Yes, there is a song which says ‘F&$% You God in the A$$,’ but much like the jokes, the songs are second rate.  Once you move past the shock value, there isn’t much that’s really there.  It’s a disappointment since the same creative team also gave us such phenomenal musical numbers as “Blame Canada” from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and “America (F&$% Yeah)” from Team America: World Police.

I went into The Book of Mormon really wanting to love it. Entering Los Angeles’s Pantages Theater, I couldn’t have been more thrilled and excited.  Leaving, I was bored and felt ripped off.  All this hype and it wasn’t worth it.  If the show has one redeeming quality, it’s the message about a person’s own relationship with the idea of faith.  For a show charging upwards of $60 to sit in the last row of the theater, faith alone wasn’t worth the price of admission.

The Book of Mormon is currently on Broadway, touring the United States and preparing for a London Production.  To get tickets or to learn more, please visit: http://www.bookofmormonbroadway.com

On the road again…..

MarqueePolitics is hitting the road this week for vacation.  One of the stops along the way is to see the national tour of The Book of Mormon in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theatre during its opening week.  So with that on the agenda, let me take this time to answer some frequent questions I get about touring productions of Broadway shows.

Q: Why see a show on tour?

A: Sometimes I choose to wait to see a show go on tour for various reasons.  As for The Book of Mormon, like you, I couldn’t get tickets to the Broadway production, nor could I afford tickets to the Broadway production.  When I heard the show was going on  tour I decided to wait.

In Los Angeles, I’m sitting in the front mezzanine, a ticket which costs me $80.  On Broadway, that very same ticket would have cost me upwards of $155.  So sometimes, to be cost effective, I wait to see a show on tour.  Hey, theater isn’t cheap.

Q: What’s the difference between a touring production vs. Broadway production?

 A: It really depends on the show, but generally not much.  A few of the sets maybe scaled down, but the show is generally a carbon copy of the Broadway production.   Music, lyrics, plot and choreography are all the same, nothing changes. 

Q: Is there a quality difference between touring and Broadway productions?

A: No, all Broadway tours are Broadway quality.  There are some minor differences, but generally none that are very noticeable.  In some cases a touring production is better than  the Broadway production; see my recent post about The Addams Family.

Q: Since tours don’t have the original Broadway casts, are they worth seeing?

 A: This is the most frequent question I get asked, and the answer is absolutely!

Just because a tour isn’t the original cast, it shouldn’t dissuade you from seeing a show.  Many tours are populated with Broadway veterans, and in some cases their performances are better than that of the original casts.  Also, Broadway shows aren’t written for stars like they used to be when Irving Berlin would write for Ethel Merman.  

Finally, I’ve seen many regional and touring productions where the local leads are better than their Broadway counterparts.  And who knows, you may be seeing a star in the making.  A star doesn’t make the role, the role makes the star! 

Q: Where can I find out which shows are coming to my town?

A: The following are all great websites to find information about shows coming to your town.  Also, many public libraries and art museums also have information touring and regional productions. 

            http://playbill.com/events/listing/3/Regional-Tours-Shows/

            http://broadwayacrossamerica.com/

 See you when I get back, and yes, there will be a Book of Mormon review!

Ya Got Trouble – Potentially

If you watched last week’s Republican Convention then you probably noticed the overwhelming presence of female leaders, delegates and speakers.  Much of that was the result of a strategy engineered by the Democratic Party to make the Republican Party platform seem anti-female.  While this electoral tactic has frustrated the Republican Party, it could prove fatal in the long-term should Democrats continue to bait gender issues at their convention this week in Charlotte.

With Vice President Biden set to address delegates tonight, and President Obama the following evening, both would be foolish to speak about the so called ‘War on Women.’  Why?  Because over the last three years American’s have seen their economy stall, credit rating downgraded and when the convention began on Tuesday, the national debt will have rose to $16 trillion.  To quote the Clinton ’92 campaign, it’s the economy stupid.

I’m not downplaying the ‘War on Women,’ just the politics being played with the issue.  This week Democrats get to address the country and if the president wins re-election, and the economy falters in his second term, he’ll look foolish for using his re-nomination speech to attack the Republican Party platform on social issues.   It will create the image that when Americans needed leadership, President Obama provided politics, and this decision could damage the future of the Democratic Party.

Writing this post, I’m reminded of Professor Harold Hill, the leading man/conman in the 1958 Tony winner for Best Musical, The Music Man.  In the show, Hill comes to small-town Iowa and con’s the citizens into funding a brass band.  The citizens hope that by following Hill’s lead, their town will find fame and glory.  They completely disregard the fact that a band is the least of the town’s necessities and that Hill is simply distracting them.

Should President Obama and Democrats make social issues a focal point of the convention; they will be as guilty as the townsfolk in The Music Man by distracting the American people.  After three years President Obama, not George W. Bush, owns this economy.  On Friday morning the Department of Labor will release unemployment statistics for August.  Should the news be sour, President Obama will look foolish having used much of his speech this week railing against the Republican Party’s social platform.