The Stage

Broadway night for presidential candidate Obama

Published Wednesday 12 September 2007 at 13:45 by Judd Hollander

The US 2008 presidential race has arrived on Broadway with a special one-night event featuring Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, entitled Barack on Broadway.

On September 24, Obama will be appearing at the New Amsterdam Theater, currently the home of Mary Poppins, with numerous Broadway personalities including Christine Ebersole, Marcia Gay Harden, Ruben Santiago Hudson, Kristen Johnson, Phylicia Rashad, Jeffrey Wright, and the Broadway Inspirational Voices.

The evening will be directed by Tony Award winner George C Wolfe and will feature readings of the works from some of America’s most famous playwrights, including Eugene O’Neil, Arthur Miller, Thornton Wilder, Clifford Odets, Tennessee Williams, David Mamet, Tony Kushner and August Wilson.

“Through our greatest playwrights… and the Broadway experience, we articulate the longings and moral dilemmas of our time. Whether in musical song or drama, the art of the theatre helps us define and understand the dreams and debates of the nation. This, too, is what Obama is about, and why this mutual celebration is so significant,” noted the producers of Barack on Broadway.

The event is closed to the press, but open to the public with a price tag ranging from $250 to $2,300 per ticket. That top price will allow the purchaser to meet Obama at a private reception before the show.