Saddam: The Musical, a highly satiric new show about Iraq's ex-dictator, will be presented at The Drama Book Shop (250 West 40th Street, between 7th and 8th avenues). The show will begin performances on Friday, October 21st to run through Sunday, October 30th."Not to make light of this historic event, this fictional musical pokes fun at Saddam and his antics," according to press notes. "Saddam: The Musical tells the inside story of how Saddam Hussein was an eager-to-please henpecked husband and relates the tale of Saddam's kidnapping of the world's greatest lyricists and songwriters to be the ghostwriters of Saddam's ultimate paean of love. As the walls of his palaces crumble about him, Saddam is obsessed with creating the one song that will both memorialize his musical genius and win back the heart of his first wife."Saddam: The Musical will be helmed by Robert Kiernan (who also takes on the title role). It features a book, music and lyrics by Joe Beck. The latter started writing the show two years ago; it began as a straight full-length play called Love and Missiles In The Sand. After a few rewrites, the project was renamed Ruler Of Saddam. After Kiernan and Beck teamed up, it was retooled as Saddam: The Musical.
Beck is the award-winning author of four previous plays: Murderous Huntington, Don't Leave Tracks, A Birthday Party and Thanksgiving. He is also the author of two non-fiction books: The Ultimate Home and Property Maintenance Manual (McGraw-Hill 2005) and co-author of 100 Of The Greatest Inventions Of All Time (Citadel 2003), as well as the writer of hundreds of articles. He is currently working on his first novel, Suburban Sins, and his next play, Fuel.The show's performance schedule is Friday, October 21st through Saturday, October 29th at 8 PM, with 3 PM performances on Sunday, October 23rd and October 30th. Tickets will be $15 (students and seniors are $12), and may be purchased at
the door; advance noticed is required as seating is limited. For
tickets please call (516) 932-1454 or (516) 672-6453 or e-mail joegail@yahoo.com. For more information, visit www.saddammusical.com.
