POTUS Is Headed for Broadway, Starring Vanessa Williams, Lilli Cooper, More

A new play about women taking control behind-the-scenes for a problematic figure is coming to Broadway. Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, will begin previews April 14 at the Shubert Theatre ahead of a May 9 opening. 

Starring will be Tony winner Julie White, Tony nominees Vanessa Williams and Lilli Cooper, and Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch, along with Lea DeLaria, Julianne Hough, and Suzy Nakamura. The cast also includes Anita Abdinezhad, Gisela Chípe, Jennifer Fouché, and Lisa Helmi Johanson as standbys.

Susan Stroman is set to direct the production, the first time the The Producers and The Scottsboro Boys auteur and choreographer has helmed a play on the Main Stem. Serving on the creative team are scenic designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Linda Cho, lighting designer Sonoyo Nishikawa, sound designer Jessica Paz, and hair and wig designer Cookie Jordan. The intimacy and fight director is by Rocio Mendez with casting by Taylor Williams, production stage management by Johnny Milani, and general management by Foresight Theatrical.

“Selina's wickedly funny satire questions how complicit we really are in the woes of the world—and what would happen if we simply stood back instead of continuing to empower the leaders who got us to where we are in the first place,” said Stroman. 

“Growing up in Oregon, long before I could fathom working on Broadway, all I wanted was to glimpse it,” said Fillinger, whose work was added to the Kilroy’s List in 2019. “To be premiering my play at the Shubert, with this extraordinary cast and the legendary director, Susan Stroman, is quite literally the stuff of dreams. I hope the show offers joy, folly, and the strength to keep fighting at a time when the world needs all three.”

Leading producers for POTUS are Greg Nobile of Seaview, Lynette Howell Taylor of 51 Entertainment, Gareth Lake of Glass Half Full Productions, and Abigail Disney of Level Forward. The latter will also serve as impact producer for the play and will announce key partnerships in the coming weeks with organizations that support women running for office and voter registration.

The producing team also includes Salman Al-Rashid, Sony Music Masterworks, Mark Gordon Pictures, Imagine Equal Entertainment, Jonathan Demar, Luke Katler, Thomas Laub, and David J. Lynch.