"Hope - the Obama Musical Story" Wows the Germans

President Obama might want to think about delivering his 1^st State of the Union speech in Germany where he's still popular. Remember the 200,000 people who welcomed the Messiah in his 2008 Berlin speech? But it's Frankfurt, Germany where the new musical play about the Obama Show opened this past Sunday. In spite of this being the internet age, the Germans seem not to have gotten wind of recent Obama upset defeats in Virginia and New Jersey, and the possibility of an even greater one today as Massachusetts voters go to the polls in a special election where Scott Brown is leading.

"Hope: The Obama Musical Story" is a real musical with real actors and a real story line about an unreal politician who captured the fantasizing hearts of Americans who saw in President Obama more than what was really there, and little of what they really should have known was there.

Wall Street Journal reviewer Daniel Schwammanthal quipped in his review of the musical today, that it took Jesus Christ 2000 years to get musical recognition in "Jesus Christ Superstar." Obama has accomplished this monumental feat after a stint at a Chicago community organizer and a brief Senate cameo.

African-American actors head the cast with Della Miles playing Michelle Obama and Jimmy Wilson as Barack, or Barry, or President Obama. I haven't seen the musical but it's one I wouldn't be sure to miss so long as the White House bails us out by giving everyone free tickets to Broadway. It's been a while since I have been able to spend for a major musical on Broadway and meet the associated costs of a day-night trip to New York City.

I probably could scrape together enough to park my car, but not my truck because the car lots charge triple in New York for pickup trucks. It's no wonder when you consider how many times President Obama made nasty, sarcastic remarks about Scott Brown's pickup truck when he stopped up in Boston to bulwark Martha Coakley's campaign. President Obama, tear down that wall regarding pickup trucks!

There is a website for "Hope: The Obama Musical Story"

and get this: You will be able to stay in tune with Obama because you'll be sitting in "specially designed musical chairs" which, when you think about it, has the potential to become embarrassing. The Germans love this stuff, as much as they love President Obama, and as much as they loved Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will." I saw that WWII era documentary a couple of times in some film classes I once had, and boy, you could see how the Germans could go for Obama. Obama and the Germans both go in for tight media control.

According to witty WSJ reviewer Schwammanthal, the "Obama Musical Story features the obligatory "Yes, We Can" Obama anthem and a eulogy to Obama's grandmother, though we don't know which one or how many. Schwammanthal tries to comfort Harry Reid by claiming that the Obama lead character is played by a "light-skinned" African American guy. Thanks to Reid, we now realize that Democrats and enlightened liberal elites favor "light-skinned negroes" to lead them, the implication being very strong that dark complexioned Africans are not quite as pretty as Obama.

I don't agree with this, of course, and my hope is that one day America, or Germany, or France will one day elect a black man to the presidency. Nonetheless, I will be waiting with baited breath to hear the Obama stump speeches with a musical accompaniment and sung by "light skinned negroes."

No great Obama musical would be complete without Republican villains, so John McCain and Sarah Palin and both appear as unreconstructed white devils in disguise. Unfortunately, those two are not played by African-Americans in white face, something that would certainly have added a touch of comic sophistication. But German audiences like their comedy blunt and their most popular politicians to live and lead in other countries. This is unfortunate, as a leader with as much celebrity panache as Obama deserves to be shared.

Lest you be left with the impression that this musical is not "inclusive," be advised that a sanitized Reverend Wright appears as a guiding angel to lead pickup truck Republicans with Birkenstock Democrats in a new version of Kumbaya. This is not the Reverend Wright you know, however, but then again this is not the presidential musical you know, either.