Hillary in the life she was born to lead

When we found out NOMADS was putting on a (sold out) musical about Hillary Clinton with a score completely comprised of Taylor Swift tunes, we were intrigued to say the least. We sent Bwoggers Mia Lindheimer and Jennifer Nugent to see how it came together. Hillary(ous)! has two more shows tonight (7pm and 9:30pm) so, if you’re as intrigued as we were, you can try your shot at the waitlist. 

As a journalistic disclaimer, we’re both huge Taylor Swift fans, so we were obviously excited to see this production about the former Secretary of State set to Taylor’s music. That said, you don’t have to be a fan to have a great time at Hillary(ous)!; the entire premise is a bit ridiculous, so it’s best just to sit back and enjoy the hilarity.

The plot of the production follows Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign leading up to the Wisconsin primary, including the political debates, the public persona and media pandering, and Trump. Hillary begins a journey of self-discovery and self-expression when she gets trapped in a closet with redheaded Abigail, a political neophyte. While balancing her newfound friendship and numerous political setbacks (Millennials? Latinos?), Hillary learns more about the true meaning of politics, building up to the moment when she tries to state a real, honest opinion! Throughout the production, Bernie Sanders vies for Clinton’s friendship, while Donald Trump comes through with constant social media attacks (have you seen Hillary’s panty lines???). By the end, however, they’re all holding hands to the tune of “Long Live,” a T-Swift classic.

While we thoroughly enjoyed the show, we did walk away with a few small issues. The mashup between “Change” and “State of Grace” felt unnecessary and misplaced, especially given that “Change” could easily have stood on its own in the show. Also, while the majority of the delivery was good throughout the production, sporadic mumbling of raps and lines broke the flow that really signifies a spectacular performance.

That being said, Bernie, played by Ankeet Ball, stole the show from the second he lumbered onto the stage. Ankeet somehow managed to master the incredible shoulder hunch, aggressive arm-waving gestures, and The Bernie Accent™ that we’ve all come to know and love from the Vermont Senator.

The show also featured a live band and piannist; arranger Fernanda Douglas worked miracles with Swift’s songs. In addition, Erik Helstrom’s performance on both saxophone and clarinet was completely commendable.

During the production, each scene break was punctuated by an unattributed Taylor Swift quote (who said it better: Hillary or Taylor?) that ranged from inspiring to downright depressing (“All you have to do to be my friend is like me”).

The Trump/Cruz/Rubio(/JEB!) trio which became Hillary’s Greek Chorus later in the show provided constant laughs and ample opportunities to hate on Republican front-runners. Trump (Brittany Beljak) was fantastic– his glare during “Better than Revenge” made you feel a pit of hatred deep in your stomach.

The biggest kudos of all has to go to Rebecca Farley and Ellie Beckman who co-wrote the musical. The puns flew and inside-jokes abounded, appeasing both political junkies with references to the TPP and Swifties (two of the characters were Abigail and Stephen…)!

Fun fact: Despite this being a musical about two female friends, the (potential) first female president of the United States, and set to the music of one of the most popular female singers, the large majority of the characters were male. Even more interestingly, with the exception of Bernie, it was an all-female cast.

All in all, we give Hillary(ous)! a heartfelt Welcome to New York, it’s been waiting for you. We give our applause to the Fearless cast. It was a wonderful friendship Love Story, and [We] Wish You Would open up some more showings so every single Columbia student could see this musical. If you didn’t book a ticket, Speak Now and get on that waitlist, because you don’t want to be on The Outside looking in. If you’re “too stressed about midterms to go see a musical”, just Shake it Off and venture Out of the Woods (Butler). I Know Places (Glicker-Milstien Theater) where you can keep your Eyes Open. This Love for Hillary(ous)! is too much to handle; Everything Has Changed for us after witnessing this masterpiece.

Hillary(ous)! promo pics via CU NOMADS