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Get Ready For 'Clinton: The Musical'

In this image taken from video, Monica Lewinsky embraces President Clinton as he greeted well-wishers at a White House lawn party in Washington Nov. 6, 1996

There's no doubt the Clinton presidency was like a soap opera with infidelity, lying, over-the-top acting (complete with lip biting), betrayal, and the occasional thrown lamp.

But now, the reality series that was the "Bill and Hill Show" is being adapted as a different kind of opera ... well, a musical theatre production, to be precise.

"Clinton: The Musical" opens this weekend in New York at the New York Musical Theater Festival.

The Paul and Michael Hodge musical features a duet between Bill and Hillary in which they work on the 1998 State of the Union address. It was a critical speech meant to divert the American people's attention away from the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

According to the New York Times, the duet entitled "No" includes such inspiring lyrics as "We can stand erect ..." and "No longer on our knees" as proposed passages in the speech that don't make the final draft.

Billed as a satire, the show utilizes the theatrical device of casting two different actors to play the "two sides" of Bill Clinton.

It portrays two sides of President Bill Clinton: the jovial id who cannot control himself and the pensive policy wonk who cannot stop talking about the intricacies of health care reform. Mrs. Clinton is the struggling-to-be-stabilizing force, grappling with the Lewinsky scandal while slyly eyeing her own Senate run.

Of course, the "two sides of Bill Clinton" narrative plays into the ongoing myth-making the media loves to engage in with regard to the former president. Long-time observers of Team Clinton recognize that this is actually a self-serving narrative.

By separating the "two sides" it allows Clinton enthusiasts to escape the reality that the same man who lied under oath, lied to his cabinet, and lied to the American people about the Lewinsky affair engaged in the exact same level of performance art when he proclaimed that the "era of big government was over," bit his lip and "felt your pain," "smoked but didn't inhale," and said he'd help "build a bridge to the 21st century."

All these various dramatizations are variations on a theme, as we say in the arts world. One can only understand the ease in which Clinton lied to all those around him about his personal peccadilloes if you accept it in full context of his entire career of political acrobatics.

Bottom line: Bill Clinton (and by extension, his personal political project Hillary) will say anything to anyone if it means the advancement of the Clinton legend.

"Clinton: The Musical" is sure to be hilarious, in a Greek tragedy sort of way. But, the real humor will be in watching the elite Manhattan audience laughing right along with the pretend Clintons on stage. They'll giggle with such superior intellect all the while not understanding that the real joke is on them. After all, they keep voting for them.

A final note: I worked in the professional theatre industry for over twenty years before becoming a radio talk show host and political commentator. Therefore, I'm more than qualified to know a crappy musical when I read a press release about one.