“44, The Musical” was hilarious. The two-hour staged comedy musical echoed Saturday Night Live (SNL) with Dave Chappelle as host, but with no TV sensors. While the satirical play easily captures the attention of one half of Americans, members of the All Saints Holiness Church would probably walk out immediately, as would voters from deeply conservative, red Kansas, with its gratuitous profanity and pro-Obama themes —despite its great original music and consequential lyrics.

Eli Bauman, a former Obama campaign staffer, wrote the play, but we could not find any credible comments from Obama about it. However, what could Obama remark, since we cannot recall him ever swearing in public? I doubt he would say the creation reflects his professorial, family-man demeanor.

The creative creation had a small share of predictable scenes, but with highly creative twists, including a one-liner reference to Hillary Clinton having worn “pampers pantsuits” as a baby and a catchy song referencing Obama: “How Black it too Black.”  I found the WHAM meeting scene the most memorable. WHAM is the acronym of White Hetero Affluent Men. The meeting featured the now-deceased “token” Herman Cain and Lindsey Graham.

While Cain does not find respect in death, the Graham character took a step further into tropes that actors sometimes use to portray him. In 44, he often carried a parasol. Much to Bauman’s credit, the play carries its own weight even when the lyrics, lines, or even the actors’ looks stray away from Obama's reality.

After making its world premiere in Los Angeles in 2024, "44: The Musical" had stops in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City and was often included in Port of Harlem’s “Activities” department.