Hopedance

By Larry Narron

Satirist Gale McNeeley was sitting in a bathtub in Italy when the thought suddenly occurred to him:  What if President George W. Bush became the next Pope?  Thus began the creative process that would eventually lead to Pope, a hilarious new musical that makes fun of religion, politics, sex, and just about everything else your mom and dad told you never to talk about at the dinner table. 

A self-proclaimed recovering Catholic, McNeeley, with the help of his fellow “Satiricals” at Common Good Productions, urges us to consider the idea that nothing is taboo for the stage:  Yes, 9-11 hero Rudy Giuliani has been known to wear women’s clothing; yes, the current head of the Roman Catholic Church was once a Hitler Youth.  But aren’t these things, as any Sunday school teacher would tell us, inappropriate to speak of?  Isn’t bringing up such an embarrassing episode in the childhood of the Holy Father going too far?  “The Pope is still a man,” McNeeley reminds us.  “He still goes to the bathroom.  You need to poke fun at religion,” he stresses.  “You have to question everything.” 

Really?  But what about the credibility of President George W. Bush?  Can you make fun of him as well?  According to McNeeley, the answer is clear as day:  “Absolutely.  The president is no better than you or I.”           

In Pope, W. is visited by three groups of ghosts reminiscent of those in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, except in Pope, politics is a substitute for Christmas:  W. is visited by the ghosts of politics past (Reagan, Nixon, and Bush I), the ghosts of politics present (Obama, McCain, Clinton, Huckleberry, and Romney), and the ghosts of politics to come (Hilary in the White House – with Bill, of course).  Bush is forced to face the mistakes – the sins – he has committed against humanity.  But when he realizes the Pope is taking a Greyhound bus to the White House to pay him a special visit, W. has an “apostrophe”:  By becoming the next Pope, W. can find redemption – and avoid impeachment. 

McNeeley admits that some people won’t find his new musical funny.  He acknowledges the fact that the president certainly wouldn’t if he came to see the show.  But “laughter isn’t always the goal of satire,” McNeeley says.  “It’s just more fun when the audience is laughing with you all the way through.”  Having founded the Kit-n-Kaboodle Clown Circus, McNeeley reminds us that “every culture has had its court jester.  The role of the fool is to take a mirror and shine it back on the rulers.  It doesn’t mean the reflection is accurate: it may be warped.  I don’t imagine the White House has a fool,” McNeeley adds.  “Well, it may.  But it’s the leader.” 

In the 1970, McNeeley was a graduate student at Kent State University.  The day after he left, the National Guard opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War.  Today, somehow, he is still able to smile.  “Laughter is a way of healing,” he says.  “The serious stuff informs.  Your work should be in finding the positive in the hardness of the world.  Serious stuff is not to be played seriously, or you dig yourself into a hole.  When I do a show, I’m asking the audience, ‘Don’t you agree?  Isn’t this ridiculous?’  It’s not the fool’s job to preach.  It’s his job to shine the mirror, to make them laugh.  Because laughter might be the light at the end of the tunnel. . . .”

A sneak preview of Pope is scheduled for Wednesday, April 2, at 8 p.m., at Linnaea’s Café in San Luis Obispo.  Additional shows are scheduled for the first three weekends of April at the World Rhythm and Motion Center at 160 South St. in San Luis Obispo.  Call Gale McNeeley at (805) 925-1882 for more information.