George W. Bush’s last day as President was on January 20, but his second term will last just a little bit longer. This time though he won’t be residing in the White House. Instead he will be at the Cort Theater on West 48th Street in New York City. And oh yeah, he’s being played by comedian Will Ferrell.
Ferrell, known for playing mostly movie roles as egotistical athletes, wild-eyed anchormen and over aged frat boys, is finally making the jump to Broadway. In his debut “You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush”, Ferrell plays the 43 President, an impression he made famous a decade ago.
He will perform the one-man show through March 15 with tickets being relatively inexpensive ranging from $30 to $100 dollars. The star himself said that the audience should “expect the unexpected,” when it comes to the show.
Previews for the show began on January 20, the same day Barack Obama was inaugurated as President and premiered on February 5. The first preview began with Mr. Bush dropping to the stage, apparently from the Marine One helicopter that carried him from the lawn of the new Obama White House.
Adam McKay, Ferrell’s longtime friend and producing partner, is directing the 80-minute production. McKay has previously directed the films “Talladega Nights,” “Anchorman” and along with Ferrell wrote the script for “Step Brothers.”
“This is one of the biggest flying leaps I’ve ever taken,” said Ferrell. “The only thing it compares to is auditioning for ‘Saturday Night Live’ in Studio 8H with a camera on me, a couple of people watching in the darkness, no one laughing, and me thinking, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening!’ But it feels good right now, to take a leap.”
Ferrell had time to try to perfect his Bush impersonation many years ago when he still was the star of “Saturday Night Live.” The character was featured mostly during Ferrell’s sixth season on the show, when the country was on their way to electing Dubya President.
Since leaving “Saturday Night Live,” Mr. Ferrell has performed as President Bush on occasion. Last year Jon Stewart interviewed Ferrell-as-Bush during a fund-raiser for autism education and two weeks ago he appeared on the last episode of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”
His impersonation of the President’s voice can sometimes slip into surfer dude status, but no one is better at capturing the little nuances of Bush --the squint, the curled lip, the stuttered laugh—better than Ferrell.
Right now the show is the hottest ticket on Broadway, generating over $5 million in advanced sales and nearly every seat has been sold for its eight week run. The first weeks of the show brought out A-list stars such as Bon Jovi, Matthew Broderick and rapper Common.
The reviews of the show have been mostly positive so far; with many critics praising Ferrell’s spot on impersonation as the reason the show is successful.
Joe Dziemianowicz of the New York Daily News said, "Ferrell is lightning fast on his feet and turns each ad lib into a burst of hilarity, a mission accomplished, if you will." While David Rooney of Variety wrote that “Ferrell provides a cathartic, almost cleansing farewell in "You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W Bush."
Fortunately for Ferrell fans, if they can’t make it to New York City by March 20, they will still have a chance to see the show. HBO is set to air a live telecast of the show towards the end of its run on Saturday March 14.
One person who is unlikely to attend the show in its final week is the real ex-prez, although at one point Ferrell was under the impression that Bush was a fan.
"It was back when he was governor, I had just started playing him and he was going to be on the show," Ferrell said. "I was told that he and his people were huge fans of mine and would love to meet me. So I hurried down to the 'SNL' studio and all these photographers were taking pictures and they pushed me into this circle of people and they said, 'Go say hi.' So I went up and said, 'Hello, Mr. Governor. Thanks for doing the show.' I could tell he had no idea who I was."
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