How Presidents have been portrayed in Off-Broadway and Broadway musicals and plays is the theme of an exhibit now showing at the Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury, CT during the month of February. The display will feature Playbills, LPs and CDs from the collection of Dr. Stuart Brown, Director of Student Services at the Waterbury Campus of the University of Connecticut and President of the CT Critics Circle. “I’ve been attending Off-Broadway and Broadway productions for over 45 years,” said Brown, who has hosted the radio program “On Broadway,” which airs every Sunday night from 5:30-6:30pm on WRTC-FM, 89.3, at Trinity College in Hartford. The show can also be heard via live stream at wrtcfm.com.
“Many of the shows I’ve seen have had subject matter we associate with Presidents and politics. Notable examples include Hamilton, Frost/Nixon, and 1776,” he said.
“The most well-known Presidential musical is probably 1776, which will be represented,” stated Brown, who has been with the University since 1989. “The Hamilton Playbill will be in the exhibit since you have George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison in that blockbuster show.”
Some of the material spotlights shows with fictional Presidents. “Of Thee I Sing is a musical with a score by George and Ira Gershwin that lampoons American politics,” said Brown. “The original Broadway production was a critical and commercial success. It was also the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.” Read More…
