Preview: POTUS At Chappaqua Performing Arts Center

Talk about timely entertainment. Less than two months before the Nov. 5 election to decide the next President of the United States (POTUS), a group of Westchester theater veterans will present a one-night-only performance of the all-female hit Broadway farce POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, by Selina Fillinger.

Produced by State of Play Productions in partnership with the League of Women Voters of New Castle, the staged reading will take place 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, at Chappaqua Performing Arts Center. 

When the President carelessly spews an unsavory comment about his wife at a highly televised press conference, the seven brilliant women in his life must race to clean up the PR nightmare before global crisis ensues.  

One major theater critic praised the original production as a mix between Saturday Night Live and Veep. It was nominated for several Tony and Drama League awards, including for former SNL cast member Rachel Dratch.  

Featured in the State of Play production are Catherine Banks (Peekskill, pictured), Leslie Smithey (Briarcliff Manor), Molly Canu (Tarrytown), Marisa Lowe (Beacon), Traci Redmond (Dobbs Ferry), Caturah Brown (White Plains), Lina Sarrello (Harlem). 

The show is directed by Adrienne LaValley (Peekskill), with Michelle Concha (Ossining) as Producer and Director. 

“The timing couldn’t be any better to bring POTUS to Westchester,” says Michelle Concha, Artistic Director for State of Play.  “It’s a comedy for both sides of the aisle, injecting some much needed levity into our tense political climate. State of Play Productions is committed to providing opportunities for new voices to develop and be seen by audiences in Westchester and beyond.” 

Chappaqua Performing Arts Center is at 480 N Bedford Road, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Tickets can be purchased at stateofplayproductions.eventbrite.com. For more info, see stateofplaytheatre.com. Doors open at 7 pm on Sept. 13, with complimentary light bites, beer and wine plus a State of Play Productions video installation of past and future productions.

State of Play Productions calls itself “a hot little incubator hatching new work by theater artists.” Founded in New York City in 2006, it was relocated to Westchester in 2023 by Michelle Concha and Executive Director Adam LaFaci (New Hartford, Connecticut). 

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