Broadway vs. Trump: A New Battleground

You know, if Broadway is turning into the new battleground against Trump, then I guess the former president might just kick back and relax.

Oscar Hammerstein II's Perspective

Legendary Broadway songwriter Oscar Hammerstein II, always known for his syrupy sweet lyrics in classics like Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music, had this to say: 'There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little sentiment. It’s about the big moments—birth, death, or falling madly in love.' Not on his list? Journalists and anyone pretending to be one in movies or plays.

George Clooney's Role

Seems George Clooney missed that memo. About twenty years ago, he put on many hats to produce, direct, and star in Good Night, and Good Luck. The film tried to tweeze out some sort of moral tale from the heated TV exchanges between journalist Edward R. Murrow and anti-communist Senator Joseph McCarthy. The title might as well have been 'Saint vs. Tyrant.'

Broadway Adaptation

Now, Clooney's brought this hero-admiration over to Hammerstein’s domain—Broadway. Despite Hammerstein's tendency to idealize things like 'whiskers on kittens', he could never have dreamed up something as overly sentimental as the stage adaptation of Good Night, and Good Luck. It hit the boards at Winter Garden Theater in March and even snagged a live broadcast on CNN on a Saturday night. (For the record, I didn’t see it live in theaters but had the dubious honor of catching it from start to finish on TV.) It almost felt destined that Good Night, and Good