Bush Wars - Interview with Jay Falzone

Interview By: Carey Purcell
CareyPurcell@TheCinemaSource.com

It’s the day after the elections, and the House and Senate are officially Democratic again. Jay Falzone’s mission is accomplished.

“So are you wearing a flight suit right now?” I asked the co-writer and star of Bush Wars, referring to the President’s now infamous “Mission Accomplished” appearance.

“Oh, I’m shopping for one online right now,” Falzone said. For a moment, I am confused, wondering if he is actually serious. But just for a moment. Then he starts laughing and I do too.

“But seriously, it feels good,” Falzone said of the Democrat’s takeover. “Obviously, there’s hope. Everyone feels like we’re on our way out of the darkness. For a show like this, it’s still needed to keep the base energized, which is something the Republicans are good at. We need to keep us focused, and remind us of where we think we are.”

Bush Wars, subtitled “The Musical Revenge,” consists of musical theatre numbers re-written to parody the current administration. Including the numbers, “America” from West Side Story and “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. Based on the premise that George W. Bush sold his soul to the Devil to avoid serving time in the National Guard, it covers various aspects of the administration’s political stance, including immigration, separation of Church and State, and, of course, terrorism.

Falzone also writes and performs in The News in Revue, a bipartisan political set that he calls an “equal opportunity offender.” One of the show’s fans approached one of the writers about the possibility of a show about Bush that was not bipartisan.

“He spoke with her in uncertain terms of the responsibility she had to create a show that was not bipartisan and had a strict agenda to put a light on the incredible screwups of the administration and the right wing agenda,” Falzone said.

The show portrays Bush not as a plotting, scheming villain but more as a wide-eyed naievete, who has no idea what he has gotten himself into. It takes him through his time in office, ending with the inauguration of a new (Democrat) President.

“The concept is not that Bush is a maniacal puppet master, but that everyone around him is,” Falzone said. “W. is not the son that was primped to be President. The fact that it was him seems a little odd and deliberate – they let the stupid one into office. He can be manipulated. He definitely has responsibility for his actions, but he really is just playing cowboy. He’s in above his head so far and everyone around him are the ones who hold the puppet strings.”

Falzone said the response to the show has been overwhelmingly positive, citing an audience member who had voted Republican but, after seeing Bush Wars, e-mailed the cast saying that the Republicans could never count on his vote again. “There is the essence that people say we are preaching to the choir, but ...