Review Roundup: GHOST OF JOHN MCCAIN Opens At SoHo Playhouse

Ghost of John McCain, the new Off-Broadway musical satire, just celebrated its opening night at SoHo Playhouse. Featuring a book by Scott Elmegreen and a score by Drew Fornarola, the limited engagement will run through Election Day, with a final performance on Sunday, November 10.

Ghost of John McCain stars Jason Tam (John McCain), Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Hillary Clinton, Daughter-Wife, Sexy Lady Fox News Anchor, others), Ben Fankhauser (Roy Cohn, Lindsay Graham, Joe Biden, others), Zonya Love (Kamala Harris, Eva Peron, Karen), Luke Kolbe Mannikus (Donald Trump), Aaron Michael Ray (Donald Trump’s Brain & others) and understudies Gisela Adisa, Joshua David Robinson and Anthony Zambito.

With direction by Catie Davis and choreography by Sunny Min-Sook Hitt, Ghost of John McCain thrusts the late Senator into an afterlife he never expected when he finds that “heaven” is inside Trump's brain. There, he encounters a "Greek Chorus" of iconic figures, including Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, Eva Perón, Teddy Roosevelt, Robert Jordan, Lindsey Graham, George W. Bush, Tiffany Trump, Grizabella from CATS, Barack Obama, Kanye West, Grant Woods, Elizabeth Warren, Taylor Swift, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, Eric Trump, Clint Eastwood — and now Kamala Harris — who rebel against the former President's relentless demands for affirmation.  

What are the New York theatre critics saying about the new musical? We're rounding up their reviews below!

Jesse Green, The New York Times: If only irreverence were the problem! But the show that opened on Tuesday at SoHo Playhouse turns out to be, in its muddled way, something of a love letter. It’s just a bad one.

Sara Holdren, Vulture: With that untreated thorn in its side, The Ghost of John McCain tries to build, instead, a (I guess) joyous bipartisan coalition of political meme figures. As the upcoming election nears, there are drop-ins from Bernie sitting in that chair and Kamala sipping coconut juice — though this is all still happening inside Trump’s head, an Inside Out or Herman’s Head if the characters were all from New Yorker cartoons. The notion must be that there’s something rebellious in imagining Trump’s own obsessions all turning on him, but I found the singular focus on Trump himself tiresome. The musical has nowhere to go except to loop back, continually, to the same jokes about the same man’s mental state. That’s less a rebellion and more like tenancy, and the artistic and imaginative rent this show pays to the concept of Trump is way too high.

Kyle Turner, New York Theatre Guide: There’s a potential version of Ghost of John McCain that’s closer to the incisiveness of a 30 Rock or maybe a Veep, but in neither the book nor the lyrics is there the rigor that could make the current show go from an intrusive thought to a steaming train.

Greg Evans, Deadline: Ghost of John McCain ultimately comes off as a nicely performed, conceptually overcooked 90-minute SNL cold open set to an amiably cartoonish show tune score.

Average Rating: 32.5%