an interview with the star of President Harding Is a Rock Star – Andrew Baughman
By Joel Markowitz
Joel Markowitz had a presidential visit from Warren G. Harding – that is – Andrew Baughman who plays the 29th President in Landless Theatre Company’s off-the-wall production of Kyle Jarrow’s President Harding Is a Rock Star.
You’ll hear some clips from the show as Andrew tells us about how helpful Gov. Sarah Palin was to his interpretation of the rock star president. Josh Speerstra, he tells us, is the real rock star of the show. The lead guitarist not only gave the musical its first orchestrations, he also wrote an original song for the show, and is front and center for all the action. “He’s the Eddie Van Halen of the piece … he’s my rock star soul.”
Andrew and director Melissa Baughman had no trouble finding women to handle the female vocals. “There were 10 ladies lined up across the stage. All 10 of them sang so well that I almost just wanted to sell tickets to the audition.” It was Richelle Howie who won the plum role of Florence Harding and you’ll understand why when you listen to her sing ‘Sad Eyes’.
Andrew is busy performing in this show and getting ready for Landless Theatre’s Christmas specials, yet he found time to compose a special song for DCTS, ‘Joel Markowitz’, which he plays for us on his Yamaha Keytar, an instrument, he admits, is “the lamest of all rock instruments.”
There’s still time to rock on over to DCAC to catch the show. It runs through Nov 30th, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30, with matinees the 23rd and 30th.
DCTS review of President Harding Is a Rock Star
In the days of my “youth” (pre-CapFringe days), my friend Jen Tonon and I penned an abomination of “anti-theatre” called Frozty The Abominable Snowman. It was a punk rock improvizational parody of the traditional story where a mad scientist creates a Frankenstein-like snow monster who goes on a massive killing spree, featuring songs with titles like “Killing People Is Bad.” Frozty holds a very special place in the hearts of many a drunk college student. Joel, being a man of good taste, hated it (and rightfully so, it is baaaaad). I still give him a hard time about it. On the day of this podcast recording, he was very polite and said “maybe I should give it another chance.” I said, “No. You’ll still hate it.”:) Thanks for listening, Rosalind!
On July 23, 2006, I attended Landless’s production of Frozty The Snowman at the Fringe Festival. Here’s the synopsis: “A mad scientist creates a monster when his experiment goes horribly wrong! In this original rock musical, Frozty the Abominable Snowman escapes and sets off on a furious search for his identity. His anger and isolation snowballs into psychosis, and he begins to kill. And kill again…” I wrote in my Theatre Schmooze Column on July 25, 2006: “It just wasn’t my cup of ice.”
https://dctheatrescene.com/2006/07/25/fringe-schmooze/ Since then, it’s been a running joke between Andrew and me. I will say that since that Frozty experience, Landless has become one of my favorite theatre groups. I hope all of you will make time to see Harding.. It’s tons of fun.
Great interview as usual, Joel. What next? What is this joke about Frosty, the Snowman? Sorry, I guess I missed something.
Who is this clown you’re interviewing, Joel? Oh, wait – it’s me! 🙂 Thanks for another crazy podcast. The star of a piece like Harding is our director. We actors in the ensemble are pawns in her maniacal concept. Kyle was very happy, and she made us look good! Thanks again, and may “The Song About Joel Markowitz” live on!!!